(a) Whether while household goods made of stainless steel and
aluminium and cutlery and glass-table ware are exempt from Central
Excise, the household plastic products are subject to Central Excise;
(b) If so, the reasons therefor;
(c) Whether Government have received representations in this
regard from plastic industry especially that from Maharashtra;
(d) If so, the details thereof and the steps taken to protect the
interests of plastic industry?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI BALASAHEB VIKHE PATIL)
(a) There is no excise duty on household goods made of stainless steel,
aluminium, cutlery and glass-tableware. Subject to certain conditions,
plastic products are exempt from excise duty upto Rs. 50 lakhs in a
financial year, if produced by SSI units.
(b) The duty structure for different commodities are decided taking
into account a number of factors such as, nature and use of goods,
administrative feasibility of collecting the tax, the extent of
value-addition, the ability of goods to bear the tax burden, revenue
potential etc.
(c) Yes Sir.
(d) Representations have been received from the certain associations,
including those from Maharashtra seeking, inter alia, to restore the
pre-budget exemption scheme to articles of plastic.The rate of excise
duty on plastic materials was reduced from 24% to 16% in the Budget
for 2000-01. The rate of excise duty on articles of plastics was also
reduced from 24% to 16%. At present there is no proposal to modify
the structure of duty on household articles of plastics.