Title: Need to restore the customs duty and surcharge on high quality Dead Burnt Magnesite to the pre-budget level of 25 per cent to save Tamil Nadu Magnesite Limited.
SHRI T.M. SELVAGANPATHI (SALEM): Sir, due to reduction in customs duty on Dead Burnt Magnesite from 25 per cent to 15 per cent and abolishment of 10 per cent surcharge in the Budget for the current financial year, the survival of Tamil Nadu Magnesite Limited, Salem and Salem Magnesite belt, which contribute 90 per cent of the total requirement of the country, are at stake. Now, the refractory makers are going for only lower grade of Dead Burnt Magnesite at lesser price to blend with high quality imported Dead Burnt Magnesite, which has become cheaper on account of the reduction in customs duty, for their use in the manufacture of refractory bricks, as a result of which the demand for the product of Tamil Nadu Magnesite Limited has come down drastically. The situation has reached to a stage wherein 4,500 workers who are dependent on this industry will be rendered jobless very soon.
I, therefore, urge upon the Government to restore the customs duty and surcharge on high quality Dead Burnt Magnesite to the pre-budget level of 25 per cent with 10 per cent surcharge to pave the way for Tamil Nadu Magnesite Limited, and to save this traditional, domestic and labour-intensive industry.