INDIA: Minister Works To Cut Excise Duties For Textile Mills

Indian Textile Minister, Kanshiram Rana, hopes to cut excise duties for larger textile mills and has taken up the issue of tax rationalisation with the federal Finance Minister. The rationalised tax structure will be unveiled in the next few weeks at the same time as the new textile policy. Rana said big spinning units were at a distinct disadvantage as compared with the units in the SSI sector in terms of excise rates. "This disparity needs to be corrected. I am talking to the federal Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha for the purpose," Rana said. "The burden for spinning mills and yarn sector is unbearable and needs to be reduced," Rana said while adding that a reduction in cost and improvement in quality were the two major issues in the textile sector. Rana dismissed fears that a cut in excise duties would lead to decline in revenue collections saying lower rates would instead lead to better compliance and fewer evasions. Taxes in spinning and the yarn sectors were increased by the government under a new three-tier tax slab of eight, 16 and 24 per cent from an earlier single tax rate of five per cent. "Under the new tax structure, the effective tax rate has increased from five per cent to 9.2 per cent," he said.