India must cut duties on manufactured goods: ASSOCHAM

India has to cut duties on manufactured products in the next budget, start work for rolling out a goods & services tax and boost investment in farm sector to sustain high growth, an industry body said on Wednesday.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, whose representatives met Revenue Secretary P.V. Bhide and submitted their pre-budget wish-list, said excise duty rate should be cut to 12 percent from the present 16 percent on manufactured goods.

Excise duty on automobiles should also be moderated by removing the special excise duty on this sector, it said in a statement. Small cars now attract a 16 percent excise duty while it is 24 percent for bigger models.

The chamber said the government has to initiate the process of implementing a goods & services tax by merging excise duty, service tax and state-level value-added tax in the next budget. For faster infrastructure development, the chamber said excise and service taxes should be exempted until a project becomes operational.

ASSOCHAM said Agriculture Economic Zones should be set up and government should invest heavily in food processing sectors to boost farm growth.

Source : Economic Times - Gurgaon, Haryana, India, dated 21/11/2007