In a bid to bring in transparency and accountability in pricing and quality of imports, the government will put in place import monitoring systems for aluminium and copper.

Share Market Live

NSE

According sources, the Ministry of Mines is at an advanced stage of the process to bring in the import monitoring systems.

The proposal is to monitor import of 43 aluminium items under Chapter 76 HS codes out of a total of 91 items. Similarly, out of 51 copper items, 47 are being considered under Chapter 74 of HS codes for import monitoring. The ministry has already held consultations with various stakeholders for this purpose.

Monitoring of 43 items of aluminium will cover 99.08 percent of total value of aluminium imported, which stood at Rs 38,166 crore in FY19. India imports aluminium scrap worth over Rs 17,000 crore, which is the primary raw material for secondary and downstream industries. It is not very clear if the monitoring system will include aluminium scrap, which is mostly exported by developed countries.

Monitoring of 47 copper items will cover 98.79 percent of total copper imports. India imported copper products worth Rs 36,873 crore in FY19.

The import monitoring system will be similar to that of Steel Import Monitoring System, which started in November 2019. As many as 284 steel items, out of 723 items are monitored for value, volume, and quality technicalities along with the country of origin.

Once approved by the ministry, the Import monitoring system will be ratified by the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT).

First Published:Jul 2, 2020 4:36 PM IST