New Delhi: The commerce ministry’s recent decision to impose anti-dumping duty on the imports of picture tubes has raised the hackles of colour television makers.
As per the government notification, 14-inch picture tubes will attract a levy of 10% while 21-inch ones will have to pay 12-13%. A levy of 23% would be applicable on imports of 29-inch picture tubes. This charge is over and above the 10% import duty on these items.
The impact of the extra duty would be significant on colour TV makers, given that India has just two picture tubes manufacturers - Samtel and JCT Electronics - who meet 55% of the demand.
The Indian colour TV market is estimated at 14-15 million units annually and manufacturers are heavily dependent on imports for as much as 5 million units.
To add to their woes, picture tubes for 21-inch and 29-inch slim and ultra slim TVs are not made in India at all, leaving imports as the only option. Manufacturers say that if the duty prevails, they would have little choice but to pass the extra charge on to consumers due to wafer-thin margins.
According to Ravinder Zutshi, the president of industry body Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (Ceama), the duty will adversely impact production. “The domestic picture tubes output is unable to meet the growing demands of the colour TV industry. Plus slim and ultra slim sets have to be imported. Anti-dumping duty will increase manufacturing costs,” he said.
Rising input costs and competition from TVs imported from Thailand at zero duty are adding to the industry’s woes. The Free Trade Agreement between India and Thailand has made domestic prices uncompetitive, he added.
All leading television manufacturers - LG, Videocon, Samsung and Onida - import picture tubes from Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and China. Recently, the Tamil Nadu government placed an order for 2.5 million TV sets for free distribution. Little wonder then that the CTV market grew 44% to 15.3 million tubes in 2006-07 from 10.6 million tubes in 2005-06.
Despite capacity expansion in the domestic picture tubes industry, the demand-supply gap persists. JCT Electronics increased the capacity of its Vadodara plant to 3.4 million units in 2005-06 but its Mohali unit has not been functioning since 2002.
Samtel, which set up Line 4 in Kota and Line 5 near Delhi to manufacture 29-inch and 21-inch flat tubes, hasn’t been able to stabilise output.
As per the government notification, 14-inch picture tubes will attract a levy of 10% while 21-inch ones will have to pay 12-13%. A levy of 23% would be applicable on imports of 29-inch picture tubes. This charge is over and above the 10% import duty on these items.
The impact of the extra duty would be significant on colour TV makers, given that India has just two picture tubes manufacturers - Samtel and JCT Electronics - who meet 55% of the demand.
The Indian colour TV market is estimated at 14-15 million units annually and manufacturers are heavily dependent on imports for as much as 5 million units.
To add to their woes, picture tubes for 21-inch and 29-inch slim and ultra slim TVs are not made in India at all, leaving imports as the only option. Manufacturers say that if the duty prevails, they would have little choice but to pass the extra charge on to consumers due to wafer-thin margins.
According to Ravinder Zutshi, the president of industry body Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (Ceama), the duty will adversely impact production. “The domestic picture tubes output is unable to meet the growing demands of the colour TV industry. Plus slim and ultra slim sets have to be imported. Anti-dumping duty will increase manufacturing costs,” he said.
Rising input costs and competition from TVs imported from Thailand at zero duty are adding to the industry’s woes. The Free Trade Agreement between India and Thailand has made domestic prices uncompetitive, he added.
All leading television manufacturers - LG, Videocon, Samsung and Onida - import picture tubes from Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and China. Recently, the Tamil Nadu government placed an order for 2.5 million TV sets for free distribution. Little wonder then that the CTV market grew 44% to 15.3 million tubes in 2006-07 from 10.6 million tubes in 2005-06.
Despite capacity expansion in the domestic picture tubes industry, the demand-supply gap persists. JCT Electronics increased the capacity of its Vadodara plant to 3.4 million units in 2005-06 but its Mohali unit has not been functioning since 2002.
Samtel, which set up Line 4 in Kota and Line 5 near Delhi to manufacture 29-inch and 21-inch flat tubes, hasn’t been able to stabilise output.
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