India's stainless steel importers, including utensil manufacturers, have urged Finance Minister P Chidambaram not to impose import duty on the alloy, saying it would lead to a monopoly of low-quality domestic products in the market.
The importers' demand comes within days of Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan seeking urgent consideration of the Finance Ministry on levying 10 per cent import duty on all categories of steel products to ward off the threat of cheaper imports.
"Import duty on stainless steel, which had remained untouched till date, will benefit a single monopoly industry," said Process Plant & Machinery Association of India Secretary V P Ramachandran.
The Association, which is an umbrella organisation of stainless steel importers and utensil producers, has shot off a letter to Chidambaram, requesting him not to heed the Steel Ministry's proposal for imposing import tariff on all categories of steel.
Giving the rationale behind it, Ramachandran said the domestic stainless steel industry has a poor range of products with a monopoly of "one producer", and so the small-scale firms need to import value-added alloy to compete globally.
"The domestic producers are catering to low-end needs whereas our members cater to high-end products, which are essentially imported," Ramachandran said.
Moreover, the import of stainless steel flat products takes place in those grades and sizes, which the domestic industry does not manufacture, he added.