With the customs notice on levying anti-dumping duty on imported coloured picture tubes likely to be issued by the ministry of finance in the near future, Indian television manufacturers are voicing their concerns.
"The domestic CPT production fulfills only 50 per cent of the demand; the industry depends more on imported picture tubes for slim and ultra-slim TVs. But if the anti-dumping duty leads to a price hike, manufacturers will have no option but to pass on the cost burden to the consumer," Ravinder Zutshi, president, CEAMA, said.
With the CTV market likely to cross 15 million sets this year, the gap between supply and demand is likely to widen. According to CEAMA, the import duty on picture tubes accounts for around 45 per cent of the final product.
There are only two CPT manufacturers in India-- Samtel Color and JCT electronics -- which together manufacture around 10 million units. Samtel manufactures 7 million pieces. Currently, Indian CPT manufacturers do not manufacture either 21" slim and ultra-slim picture tubes or 29" slim picture tubes.
Under the Free Trade Agreement with Thailand, TV sets imported from Thailand have zero per cent customs duty. According to the industry, the increase in TV set prices as a direct consequence of the anti dumping duty will make importing television sets a more viable proposition for companies.
"Most manufacturers will choose to shut their manufacturing units and import from Thailand. This will be a big blow to the domestic manufacturing industry," Anoop Kumar, former president, CEAMA, said.