20% anti-dumping duty on China imports

NEW DELHI: In the backdrop of rising rupee, engineering conglomerate Larsen and Toubro has demanded 20 per cent anti-dumping duty on Chinese products imported into the country saying the communist nation is taking advantage by artificially pegging its currency low.

The rupee appreciation has given further advantage to the Chinese industry and the government should put anti-dumping duty of 20 per cent on Chinese products until that country free floats its currency, Larsen and Toubro CMD A M Naik said.

"Chinese yuan is artificially pegged low, India's capital goods industry is suffering because of that," said, Naik, who met Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday.

The rupee has risen more than 12 per cent against the currency of the US, one of the country's main trading partner, so far this year making exports expensive and imports cheaper.

The Reserve Bank has so far not intervened aggressively to check the rapid rise in rupee value against the greenback.

Naik met the Finance Minister to update him on the company's entry into new areas like power plant manufacturing and boilers.

"We also discussed our venture into shipbuilding business and support from the government for this sector," said the CMD of the company, which forayed into shipbuilding May last year.

He said there is a need to extend subsidy policy for the shipping industry which is coming to an end in September.

Naik said there were hardly any ship builders in the country to take advantage of the subsidy policy. Larsen and Toubro.