ACMA on Wednesday asked the Central Government to abolish custom duty on alloy and mild steel, aluminium and secondary aluminium alloy and to continue with the 10 per cent duty on components to revive the industry.
"It is recommend to continue with the existing rate of 10 per cent on chapter 84 and 85 items, which is currently valid only till June 30. Also, the domestic steel/aluminium alloy suppliers benchmark their prices based on the landed prices."This makes the inputs expensive for the domestic component manufacturers.
Elimination of customs duty on the raw material will therefore set right the equation," Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) said in its Budget suggestions to the Union Finance Ministry .Expressing the hope that the Narendra Modi-led government will adopt necessary measures to revive the domestic automotive industry, ACMA said the auto industry has been facing one of the most challenging times ever."Issues such as fluctuations in the currency, high inflation and increasing interest rates have significantly dented the vehicle sales in the last one year," it said.