New Delhi (PTI): The government has imposed 20 per cent safeguard duty on PAN for over six months, a chemical used in manufacture of plastics and dyes, in order to discourage imports and protect local producers, a senior commerce ministry official said.
"The government has imposed 20 per cent safeguard duty on import of PAN," the official said, adding the duty would remain in place for 200 days.
The Director General of Safeguards (DGS), an agency which investigates problems pertaining to cheap imports, had recommended imposition of 25 per cent safeguard duty on import of Pthallic Anhydride (PAN) for about seven months. India mainly imports PAN from like South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia.
The four major producers of the chemical in the country - Thirumalai Chemicals, SI Group India, IG Petrochemicals and Mysore petrochemicals - constitute 85 per cent of the domestic production of PAN.
Imports of the chemical rose by 60 per cent from 2004-05 to 2006-07 onwards. In 2004-05, imports of the chemical was 19,599 tonnes, while in the first five months of this fiscal, the imports has crossed 18,600 tonnes.
Unlike anti-dumping duty, which varies from product to product and country to country, safeguard duties are levied in a uniform way.
Source : The Hindu