India’s tyre sector heavily affected by import duty structure – survey

According to business association the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), tyre manufacturing in India is one of the sectors most affected by what it calls ‘inverted customs duty structure’. Results of a FICCI survey show the tyre sector, along with several others, are most keenly disadvantaged by the structure of India’s import duties, which charge higher duties for imported raw materials than for imported finished products.

This anomaly in duty rates is in part the result of the Free Trade Agreements India operates with a number of Asian countries, FICCI notes; these agreements call for a level playing field when it comes to finished products, yet imported raw materials continue to be taxed at a higher rate. The survey recommends that domestic manufacturers in India be afforded the same level playing field when importing raw materials.