'Excise duty concessions in automobile sector should continue'

Union Minister for Heavy Industries Anant Geete today said incentives provided to the automobile sector should continue.
Replying to a question whether government plans to extend duty concessions, the minister said, "We believe the incentives provided to the sector should be continued."
The minister was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by IEEMA and IEEE here.
The government in June last year had extended the excise duty concession on automobile and consumer durable sectors by six months to December 31.
The previous government, in the Interim Budget in February last year, had cut excise duty on cars, SUVs and two-wheelers as well as consumer durables industry to tide over a demand slump. The concessions were valid till 30 June, 2014.

Geete also emphasised on the need to encourage domestic electrical equipment manufacturers by increasing duty on imports particularly from China.

"The proposal for increasing the import duty on electrical equipment is under the consideration of the government. However, no decision in this regard has been taken so far," he said.
The minister also said the government is taking steps to revive the state-owned electrical equipment manufacturer Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), which has suffered due to cheap imports from China as well as the problems faced by the power sector due to non-availability of coal and gas.
"There are plans for revival of the company by diversifying in newer area of solar energy as there are huge plans for increasing the capacity to 100,000 MW by 2022," Geete said.