CNBC-TV18’s Nayantara Rai reports that the Power Ministry may push for a customs duty waiver on liquefied natural gas (LNG). The ministry has taken feedback from various departments and ministries and might even send this proposal to the Group of Ministers (GoM) very shortly and if a consensus is arrived at, we could see indications of this duty waiver in the upcoming Budget.
Sources say the Power Ministry is once again pushing for a 5% custom duty waiver for LNG, this is an old proposal that the wanted in the Budget last year. This year too there was a lot of talk in January and the power ministry was once again pushing for the custom duty waiver but it didn’t find its way into the interim budget. They have taken feedback from various departments and ministries and might even send this proposal to the GoM very shortly and if a consensus arrived at, we could see indications of this duty waiver in the upcoming budget.
The Finance Ministry has not been in favour of this proposal, they want to promote LNG in India, as of now, India imports about 10-14 mmscmt of LNG a month, the main users are Reliance, SRGSPC and NTPC, watch this space to find out how this proposal pans out.
Source : www.moneycontrol.com