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Budget: Customs duty to be cut

January 11, 2005 17:41 IST
Source:PTI
The Union government's budget proposals next month would see a "substantial reduction" in customs duties, commerce secretary S N Menon said on Tuesday.

The government's intention was to bring down customs duties to the levels prevailing in the Association of South East Asian Nations over a period of 2-3 years, he said.

The government was also looking at creating an operational single window for small and medium enterprises, he said at the Coffee Export Awards ceremony in Bangalore.

On the GDP growth, he said the government was looking at a rate of between six and seven per cent for the current financial year after taking into account an estimated agriculture growth of between zero and one per cent. He said the inflation was under control.

Foreign direct investment and portfolio investment would grow substantially and infrastructure sector alone was expected to attract FDI to the tune of $150 billion dollar in the next three to four years, Menon added.

According to him, interconnectivity electronically in the context of various agencies such as Commerce Ministry, Director General of Foreign Trade, Customs and Excise Departments is pegged at 80 per cent now, and will further increase to 98 per cent within one year to keep the human interface to a minimum.

Noting that 80 per cent of coffee produced in India was exported, he called for developing domestic market.

Source: PTI
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