Heena Sharma Blog

In the run-up to the Budget for FY21, steel producers have pitched for slashing import duties on critical ingredients such as pet coke, coking coal, anthracite coal and metallurgical coke. The country's steelmakers had substantive dependence on imports for these raw materials owing to lack of ample domestic resources. As per the existing duty structure, both coking coal and anthracite coal attract 2.5 per cent import duty. The government of India levies 10 per cent duty on pet coke imports whereas anthracite coal imports are taxed at 2.5 per cent. “ Anthracite coal, coking coal, coke and pet coke are vital ingredients in steel making. Slashing import duties on these imported raw materials will help the steel industry to achieve and sustain cost competitiveness. Non-availability of these inputs both in quantity and quality is impeding the growth of the domestic steel industry”, said an official with a leading steel producer. Fifty to 80 per cent of all low-ash metallurg