Ceramic Tiles—

The booming real estate, buoyancy in IT, ITES and hospitality sector and the accelerated pace of growth in organized retail together have facilitated strong growth in demand for ceramic tiles and sanitary ware. Being an eco friendly product, tiles are a preferred medium and are becoming popular for office floors, shopping malls and railway platforms. Many manufacturers have added capacities in anticipation of demand growth.

Import duty of 10% was applicable on import of Tiles from China in 2004-2005. Subsequently customs duty on imports from China was reduced to 5.375%, which is adversely affecting the indigenous local manufacturers, who have to pay a custom duty of more than 5% on various inputs for Ceramic tiles.

 Budget Expectations—

The industry demands that the customs duty on all inputs for ceramic tiles be reduced to 5% to solve the anomaly of inverted duty structure, as import of tiles from China and Sri Lanka attracts customs duty of 5.375% as against 5% - 12.5% customs duty applicable on various inputs.