The cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is supposed to increase the import duty on power equipment by 19% for the plants which are producing more than 1000 MW. The cabinet is to finalize their decision within next 15 days.
If the proposal will be approved then, the major power manufacturers like BHEL, L&T and Bharat Forge will a lion share in the market. This will be the second good news for the energy producers after the Supreme Court’s order for the NTPC issue.
The overall 19% duty includes 5% basic customs duty, 4% additional import duty and 10% countervailing duty which has been imposed excise duty for domestic producer. The Heavy Industries Minister, Praful Patel is actively pursuing this issue.
Patel discussed this issue with PM Manmohan Singh after discussing it with the Power Minister. Other cabinet ministers are suggesting not enhancing the duties but Patel said that, this is necessary for the sake of the funds for the government. The power companies are saying that this will help them a lot to produce energy at a huge amount.