Removal of anti-dumping duty on soda ash: Cong accuses BJP of corruption

The Congress today accused the BJP-led Modi government of indulging in corruption by removing anti-dumping duties on soda ash and ceramics industries which is hurting the domestic manufacturers.
Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil demanded a Supreme Court monitored probe into the alleged corruption that led to doing away of anti-dumping duties imposed by the previous Congress-led UPA government.
He also demanded re-imposition of the anti-dumping duties on the two industries to protect the domestic players.
"We demand that anti-dumping duties on soda ash and ceramic industry should be increased. Freight charges should be included while levying the anti-dumping duty.
"A Supreme Court monitored investigation, under a sitting judge should be carried out in this huge scam related to anti- dumping duty," he said.

Gohil claimed the actions of the BJP government were hurting the domestic industry and it was "murdering" the Make in India slogan which "seems hollow".

"Corruption worth thousands of crores has been orchestrated by BJP by doing away the anti-dumping duty of soda ash and ceramic industry from few companies," he alleged.
"This act of the BJP will sound the death knell for the industry which employs lakhs of people in the soda ash industry who will lose their jobs," he claimed.
The Congress leader alleged that on June 3, 2012, the Congress government imposed anti-dumping duty on companies based abroad in soda ash and ceramic industry, in order the save the domestic industry, but the BJP government removed it for least four Chinese companies.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat tops in the production of soda ash and is losing the most with the removal of the anti-dumping duty.
The High Court, he said, earlier rejected the BJP government's mid-term review seeking to remove anti-dumping duty.
"Even though the anti-dumping notification is ending in 3 July 2017, the BJP government doesn't want to extend the period duty, thus helping importers and middlemen.
"If soda ash is allowed to be dumped from China, Pakistan and the US, the domestic industries would be ruined. Strangely, four big Chinese companies engaged in soda ash industry have been exempted from anti-dumping duty causing a loss of thousands of crores to the exchequer," he alleged.

"The government's decision was not only insane, it suggested its evil intentions. It knew that the decision would prove deadly to a household industry which provides jobs to a large number of workers," he alleged.