Govt reduces customs duty on certain steel items to provide relief to MSMEs

The government looks to provide relief to MSMEs which have been hit hard by high cost of raw materials

The government on Monday announced slashing of import duties on a number of steel items in order to provide relief to MSMEs which have been hit hard by high cost of raw materials.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech for 2021-22 said the anti-dumping duty (ADD) and countervailing duty (CVD) have also been revoked on certain steel products.

"MSMEs and other user industries have been severely hit by a recent sharp rise in iron and steel prices. Therefore, we are reducing customs duty uniformly to 7.5 per cent on semis, flat, and long products of non-alloy, alloy, and stainless steels.

"To provide relief to metal re-cyclers, mostly MSMEs, I am exempting duty on steel scrap for a period up to 31st March, 2022. I am also revoking ADD and CVD on certain steel products. Also, to provide relief to copper re-cyclers, I am reducing duty on copper scrap from 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent," she said.

The minister also announced increasing duty on steel screws and plastic builder wares from 10 per cent to 15 per cent.