UPS industry calls for duty cuts

New Delhi

Following the government's announcement of duty cuts to the IT industry, the Association of UPS and Power Conditioning Systems Manufacturers (AUPCSM) is asking for similar cuts in this segment. "We are approaching the Ministry of Finance to consider UPS as part of IT products," says RK Bansal, General Secretary of
AUPCSM.

However, the Ministry of Finance has refused to take UPS under the IT products and is still classifying it under the excise notification of 8504. The 50-member association is now trying to communicate to involve associations like Manufacturers Association of IT (MAIT) and vendors like Tata Liebert and TVSE to push their case.

At present, the UPS industry is facing different duties at the component level and with 20% duty. "There is not much manufacturing in India as far as capacitors or batteries are concerned. So when these items are imported, a large amount of money is spent to pay duty on different fronts. The government should reduce this duty structure to help the UPS industry," Bansal states.

Over the past couple of months, lead price has increased by about 50%, which is likely to increase the pricing of battery by another 25%. "Since the battery is an important part of any UPS system, any fluctuation in the price of battery will affect the UPS pricing as well," explains Vipin Goel, MD, Albit Electronics. This is precisely why Vipin and other UPS manufacturers are requesting the government to consider categorizing UPS as IT hardware to boost the industry.

(CyberMedia News Service)