No confirmation from govt on removal of customs duty: Ceat

PK Chowdhary, MD, Ceat in an interview with CNBC-TV18 said that they have been asking the Finance Ministry and Government of India for the removal of customs duty on rubber because of shortage of rubber in the country. However, they have not received any confirmation from the authorities about the same.

The international prices are ruling at around Rs 190 and Indian price is around Rs 208, so the Indian price is ruling about Rs 18 higher than the international price. "So, if the duty comes down I expect the Indian prices to also move down. But, the good thing that has happened is that rubber was ruling at about Rs 240 a few weeks back and from that it has already come down to Rs 208 and that has been a big relief." Also Read: Rubber stocks gain on customs duty abolish news Below is the verbatim transcript of his interview with of CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video. Q: Is it likely that such a move could happen? A: We have been asking for this for quite some time because of the shortage that is there in the country. We have requested the Finance Ministry and the Government of India for some import of rubber on duty free basis. We believe that there is a proposal pending with the Finance Minister but, I am not clear whether this has already happened. Although a lot of people were speculating yesterday that this has been approved but, we have no confirmation as yet on that move. Q: Have you any feed back from the Finance Ministry even suggesting that they are considering this proposal in a favourable light? A: I cannot say till the matter is approved, the file comes back and the notification comes. There is speculation that it will happen but when it will happen we actually don