The ministry of mines has favored re-imposition of export duty on chrome ore and concentrate, which was abolished in the union budget from 30% earlier.
“The mines ministry has recommended the re-imposition of 30% export duty on chrome ore. They have also suggested 15 % duty on export of chrome ore concentrates, subject to a ceiling of 70,000 MT per annum. The final decision will be taken by the Union finance ministry after consultations with the ministry of commerce & industry”, said an industry source.
The union mines secretary Balwinder Kumar during his visit to Odisha on 10 May’16 had indicated that the ministry has received several representations from the Ferro chrome industry for re-imposition of export duty and will take a decision very soon.
The 2017 Budget had waived off the export duty on both chrome ore and chrome ore concentrates, sparking resentment among the Ferro chrome producers. Companies engaged in ferro chrome production said, the duty waiver would kill value addition, lead to spate of cheaper imports from China and favor only merchant miners in the country who exported the scarce mineral.
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