Zero customs duty on 4,800 items likely

BANGALORE: The New Year may see customs duty on as many as 4,800 items reduced to zero even as the Indian government aims to promote trade with five neighbouring nations categorised as least developed countries (LDCs).

These nations are Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan. Speaking to the media, Mr Jairam Ramesh, the Union minister of state for commerce, said that the zero-tariff structure would not apply to 740 items like apparel, which have been categorised as sensitive. The items include light-engineering goods.

Asked about the impact of the fluid geo-political situation in Pakistan on trade ties with India, Mr Ramesh hoped that things would normalise soon. “We are looking to increase tea exports to Pakistan, which currently stands at 15 million kg. Pakistan is the world’s second-largest importer of tea, buying annually 140 million kg, the bulk of which comes from Kenya. We want tea exports from India to rise to 35-40 million kg,” he said.

Mr Ramesh said the Union government had earmarked a sum of Rs 75 crore to improve the infrastructure at the Wagah checkpoint on the Indo-Pak border. “We want Wagah to be capable of handling container and rail traffic,” he added. —

It is estimated that Indo-Pak bilateral trade is around $4 billion (which includes both formal and informal channels). There has been a rise in the import of cement from Pakistan in recent months.

He said the entry of Afghanistan as the eighth member of SAARC would help to expand trade in the region. On the appreciation of the rupee against the dollar, Mr Ramesh said that while in sectors like information technology, the country enjoyed a competitive advantage, the same could not be said of labour-intensive industries like apparel, leather and handicrafts.

“We would have to focus on improving our productivity level to drive exports. The Union government has already announced three relief packages to the exporting community,” he said..