Indian govt revises duties on iron ore, steel

NEW DELHI, June 13 (Reuters) - India on Friday raised export duties on long steel products and iron ore to boost local supplies but scrapped export duties on flat-rolled products, the finance ministry said in a statement. Last month, the government asked steel producers to roll back price hikes in an effort to tame inflation.

In return, steel makers sought cuts in duties on some products, saying rolling back price hikes would hurt profit margins and delay expansion.

On Friday, the finance ministry said it was exempting flat-rolled products of iron and steel, including galvanized products, and pipes and tubes, from export duty.

But the government raised the rate of export duty on long products, such as bars and rods, to 15 percent from 10 percent to improve their availability in the domestic market.

The rate of duty on iron ore was raised to a uniform 15 percent ad valorem to keep good quality ore and adequate supplies at a reasonable price in the country.

Excise duty, levied at the factory gate, on large cars, multi utility vehicles (MUVs) and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) exceeding 1500 cc has been increased.

This would now be chargeable with a specific duty in addition to the existing ad valorem rate of 24 percent, the ministry said.

For vehicles with engine capacity of 1500-1999 cc, a specific duty of 15,000 rupees ($350) per unit has been imposed. For vehicles of 2000 cc and above, the specific duty is 20,000 rupees per unit.

($1=42.9 rupees)

(Reporting by Rajkumar Ray; Editing by Charlotte Cooper)