Indian Printing, Packaging & Allied Machinery Manufacturers Association (IPAMA) today said the industry has a huge potential to implement Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project 'Make in India' and demanded that import duty on some specialised parts used in manufacturing machines be waived.
The industry representatives also want government to restrict import of second-hand machinery, which is adversely affecting the Indian manufacturers.
"This industry is having a huge potential to realise Modiji's dream of Make in India. Though our industry manufactures almost all kinds of machines and parts in the country, we still need to import some specialised parts," said IPAMA president K S Khurana while addressing a press conference here.
"We demand that such imports should be made duty free. It will reduce our cost and make our machines more viable in Indian as well as international markets. We also want government to restrict the import of second-hand machinery. This will encourage printing manufacturing sector in the country," said Khurana.
He, along with other representatives of the apex industry body of printing and packaging sector, was here to promote the upcoming printing and packaging trade expo 'Print Pack India-2015', having theme of 'Make in India'.
The expo is scheduled between February 11 and February 15 at Greater Noida Expo Mart.
According to IPAMA General Secretary C P Paul, Indian manufacturers are giving a tough competition to their Chinese counterparts, as imports from that country declined substantially in recent times.
"We saw a reduction of almost 40 per cent in the total imports of printing machines from China during last two years. One of the main reasons is that the importer does not get the after sales support as required. In addition, these machines are also getting costlier due to rise in labour cost in China," said Paul.
