Industry wants relief from CKD duty

Carmakers have made a plea to the government to delay the implementation of the new level of custom duty on Completely Knocked own (CKD) kits imported by automobile companies.

We learn that Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) on Thursday asking the Finance Minister to give breather of 18 months before implementing the increased CKD duty of 30 percent. The MoF had halved the duty on 24the March from the proposed 60 percent in the Union Budget on February 28th.

Though luxury carmakers, the parties affected by the increased duty rate, have not made any official statement, the latest development shows that they are ready to accept the new CKD duty and are planning to invest in ramping up their assembly facilities.