Aluminium producers to meet PMO to press for import duty hike

Indian aluminium producers such as Vedanta and Hindalco will meet officials at the Prime Minister's Office and policy think tank NITI Aayog this week to press for higher import duty on aluminium in the face of falling global prices.

The domestic industry leaders will meet the mines secretary on Wednesday and the PMO and NITI Aayog on the following two days, industry insiders said. International aluminium prices had fallen to $1,523 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday, down from $2,200 in over a year.

The Aluminium Association of India said increasing imports have led to the share of domestic producers dropping to 45% in 2014-15 from 60% in 2010-11. The association has been lobbying for a doubling of duty from 5% to 10%, and for 10% duty on aluminium scrap.

In a statement in Parliament earlier this month, commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman indicated that her ministry has already forwarded the industry's request to the finance ministry.

Anil Aggarwal's Vedanta, whose Odisha refinery is still waiting for captive bauxite, is particularly stressed over falling international prices. The company said it is evaluating an option to reduce capacity of its 1mt Lanjigarh refinery, which for the lack of captive bauxite runs on bauxite imports and ore sourced from Gujarat.

Vedanta has also been waiting for Odisha government to allow it to convert the existing independent power plant at its Jharsuguda smelter as captive to avoid paying a cross subsidy to the state power distributor, which has prevented the company from operationalising its 1.25 smelter unit. Power accounts for 40% of the cost in the production of the end metal aluminium.

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