Glass manufacturers unhappy with the budget

A top body of glass manufacturers has expressed disappointment over the Budget 2009-10, saying it did not have any direct benefit for the packaging industry in general and the container glass industry in particular.     

"The request of the glass industry for rationalisation of soda ash import duty remains unheard and pending," All India Glass Manufacturers Federation (AIGMF) Senior Vice-President Mukul Somany said in a statement in India's financial capital.     

Higher cost of inputs, particularly soda ash, which constitutes about 30 per cent of cost of production of glass products, is one of the major factors raising the cost of glass bottles, Somany added.     

"It is hitting the glass producers, especially in the small-and-medium sector," he said.     

AIGMF President S C Vishwakarma also shared that while glass was the most hygienic material for packing of pharmaceuticals, beverages and food articles, the glass containers themselves should remain free of contamination for the contents to remain hygienic.

"This is not always the case with re-used glass bottles, as these are infected and laden with foreign particles," Vishwakarma said.        

This was especially so in case of liquor where old glass bottles "are a major reason for sale of non-duty-paid liquor (NDPL) and thereby swindling of Government's excise revenue by thousands of crores," he added.        

Neither the packaging industry nor the container glass industry have any direct benefit from the budget, Vishwakarma shared.