Duty cut on cars, 2-wheelers to boost engg goods export: EEPC

Govt has proposed to cut duty on SUVs from 30% to 24%, and in large and mid-segment cars from 27-24% to 24-20%

Apex engineering exporters body EEPC today said Finance Minister P Chidambaram's proposal to lower excise duty on cars and two-wheelers in the interim budget will boost the exports of key engineering goods.

"The cut in excise duty in certain manufacturing industries like cars and two-wheelers will help export of key engineering goods which are poised to become the top contributors to India's export basket," EEPC chairman Anupam Shah said in a statement here.

In a move to bring back growth in the domestic auto industry, the government has proposed to slash duty on SUVs from 30 per cent to 24 per cent, while in large and mid-segment cars it has been reduced from 27-24 per cent to 24-20 per cent.

Excise duty on small cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles has been cut from 12 to 8 per cent and appropriate cuts are to be done on chassis and trailers.

The employment-oriented engineering sector, which encompasses a large number of MSMEs, would be contributing around $65 billion to the overall export shipments of $326 billion, as targeted by the government, Shah said.

"However, to achieve this target and to improve upon the same, the manufacturing sector needs a big push from the government to sharpen India's competitive edge in the global market," he said.

The government has projected a 6.3 per cent growth in merchandise exports in the current fiscal despite headwinds in the global market.

The country's merchandise exports logged a negative growth of 1.8 per cent to reach $300.4 billion in FY13 over the previous year, Shah said adding, "But we are seeing a definite turnaround in the ongoing fiscal.