After banning Chinese handsets, the Government has now imposed anti-dumping duty on telecom equipment used for transmission on optic fibre cables being manufactured in China and Israel.
The duty, imposed on Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) transmission equipment, its accessories, associated software and its essential parts and components, in assembled, CKD, SKD form or fitted with eventual broadband/cellular equipment, will impact companies including Huawei, ECI Telecom and Alcatel Lucent. These companies use their manufacturing facilities in China and Israel to import the transmission equipment into India.
The petition for undertaking preliminary dumping probe was made by Tejas Networks Ltd and supported by Measurement & Controls Ltd. After due investigations into the dumping allegation, it was found that goods had entered the Indian market from China and Israel at less than their normal values in their domestic markets.
As a result, the domestic industry has suffered both in terms of volume and price effect of dumped imports of the subject goods from China and Israel.
It has been decided that provisional anti-dumping duty would be a percentage of CIF (cost, insurance and freight) value of imports. In the case of Chinese producer and exporter, Fibrehome Telecommunication Technologies Ltd, the anti-dumping duty would be 236 per cent of CIF value of imports. In the case of Alcatel- Lucent Shanghai Bell Co Ltd, it is 20 per cent of CIF value of imports, while Huawei Technologies Co Ltd is to fork out a duty of 50 per cent of CIF value of imports.
The Customs have been regularly detecting instances of foreign manufacturers importing telecom equipment in kits and then assemble it in India to escape duty payments. For example, in July a show-cause notice was issued to Prithvi Info, a local manufacturer, by revenue investigators after it was alleged that the company was importing equipment for supplying to BSNL without paying required duties.
“There are many instances where equipment is merely assembled in the country and shown as locally manufactured to avoid paying import duties. This is destroying the domestic manufacturers which have IPR,” said one of the affected Indian players.
Source : Business Line