| The Cable TV Equipment Traders & Manufacturers Association (CTMA), registered under the West Bengal Society Registration Act 1961, is demanding 'industry status' from the government.
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| This is because the cable operators are supposed to incur an investment of Rs 700 crore to implement CAS in Kolkata.
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| But in the absence of industry status, no financial institutions would fund the cable operators for rolling out CAS or fund other expansion.
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| "Cable TV industry in India, in terms of annual subscription revenue, is over Rs 15,000 crore, which is much bigger than the film industry that has been granted industry status by the government. So we are justified in claiming for an 'industry status'," said K K Binani, secretary of CTMA.
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| Moreover, it is estimated that nearly Rs 90,000 crore have been invested in the Indian cable sector till date.
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| The cable industry has nearly 70,000 cable operators providing direct employment to 15 lakh people.
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| "So, it makes sense to give us the 'industry status'," said Binani.
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| "Also, the tax structure and import duty is hitting the cable TV industry hard and needs to be rectified," said Binod Sancheti, president of CTMA.
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| A VAT of 12.5 per cent on cable industry-related equipment and products is levied.
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| While, for products and equipment categorised under computers and telcos, a VAT of 4 per cent is levied.
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| Also, the basic import duties on the same equipment used by the cable industry and telecom companies are categorised and taxed separately.
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| "Equipment categorised under the telecom sector has to pay zero basic import duty while the same equipment for the cable sector is charged 12.5 per cent import duty and an additional SAD of 4 per cent is imposed. As a result, despite the 2.5 per cent reduction in basic duty imports remain costlier," explained Sancheti.
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| Talking about Cable TV Show 2006, Pawan Jajodia, exhibition committee chairman of CTMA, said, "The three-day annual CTMA event would be held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium till November 26."
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| Products and services of over 45 international vendors, representing USA, Europe, Taiwan, China, Hongkong, Dubai, Korea and Saarc countries, would be showcased at the event.
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| "We are expecting nearly 10,000 cable operators, traders, manufacturers, channel partners, distributors, broadcasters and MSOs from across India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, to attend the show. Footfall during the three-day show is expected to exceed 30,000," Jajodia said. |
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