New Delhi: The government on Friday proposed to increase customs duty on stainless steel products by 2.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent.

The current customs duty on stainless steel products is 5 per cent.

The proposal was made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget 2019-20.

It was also proposed to increase duty on other alloy steel and wire of other alloy steel (other than INVAR) to 7.5 per cent from 5 per cent at present.

"Changes in Customs duty to provide level playing field to domestic industry," the minister said in her maiden Budget speech.

The duty on base metal fittings, mountings and similar articles suitable for furniture, doors, staircases, windows, blinds, hinge for auto mobiles have also been increased to 15 per cent from the current 10 per cent.

The announcement assumes significance as industry body Indian Stainless Steel Development Association (ISSDA) has been raising concerns that exporters of stainless steel in several countries are colluding with some Indian importers to misuse the provisions of the ASEAN-India free-trade agreement.

In February, ISSDA had said the imports of stainless steel from Indonesia have jumped over eight-fold in last one year.

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