Increase in import duty on aluminum scrap can result in loss of 1.5 lacs jobs in recycling business: ANMA

Ahmedabad: All India Non Ferrous Metal Association (ANMA) today alleged that big private players in Aluminum sector like Vedanta and Hindalco were pressurizing the government to increase import duty on aluminum scrap from existing 2.5% to 7.5% and if done so, it could result in closure of many of the over 3500 aluminum recycling units and loss of job loss to around 1.5 lac its workers.

Addressing a joint press conference here president of ANMA, Mahendra Shah and Secretary Jayant Jain said that the big private sector players want a whooping increase in the import duty on scrap so that they could make more profit. But the government deliberations in this regard has created dissent among aluminum scrap recyclers.

If the government goes ahead to increase the duty, It would not only lead to closure of many of the recycling units and loss of jobs to 1.5 lakh workers but also to huge import of finished goods from ASEAN countries like Malasiya with whom our country has a free trade agreement. The big private players who make primary aluminum product were wrongly claiming that the import duty should be increased to protect the market from the ongoing trade war between the US and China. In fact they want to increase their business and profit at the cost of recyclers. Their allegations about the poor quality of aluminum produced by recyclers was also baseless as reputed buyers like Maruti, Honda, Hero and Toyota were readily buying it,’ they said.

Jain said that the demand for aluminum scrap has gone up due to rise in demand of aluminum in sectors like automobiles, Electrical and Engineering and Steel.

DeshGujarat