Expectations from Union Budget 2020, Kamlesh Patel, Chairman and MD, Asian Granito India

Expectations from Union Budget 2020 - Tiles and Sanitaryware

Tiles and Sanitaryware should be brought in the 12% GST slab from 18% currently as it is no more a luxury item. Making the tiles and sanitaryware more affordable will help the industry to grow faster and thus can help in fulfilling the Government vision of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Make in India and Housing for All by 2022.

To boost exports of Indian tiles, it is imperative that the incentive on the export of tiles should be reviewed and increased so that Indian exporters remain competitive in the international market and the adverse effect of the anti-dumping duty imposed by the Gulf countries could be minimized.

Natural gas is one of the cleanest and most efficient fuels and is the major cost component for the tile industry and is about 18-20% of the total cost. Presently, natural gas is kept out of the GST regime and is subjected to different VAT rates of the states. Keeping natural gas outside the ambit of GST is putting the industry using natural gas at a disadvantage and we expect that it should be brought under the GST regime at the earliest.

The economy is going through a phase of low GDP growth, Finance Minister should adopt softer interest rates to encourage new investment and revival in the capex cycle which will generate more employment opportunities and roll out tax benefits for individual taxpayers so consumption can also get a boost.

Tiles industry in India is estimated at around Rs. 40,000 crores and is growing at a healthy rate employing over 6 lakh people in direct and indirect employment. Over 70% of the Indian ceramic industry production comes from the Morbi and the industry there has gone through a couple of years of demand slack and cost increase due to shifting from coal gasifiers to gas and the heavy anti-dumping duty imposed by Gulf countries recently. GCC countries account for 35-40% of the Rs. 12,000 crore export from Morbi.

Indian Ceramic industry has transformed into a green and environment complaint industry and will continue to play an important role in the growth engine of the country and aim for global leadership in the industry while contributing to the success of 'Make in India'.

Kamlesh Patel is the Chairman and Managing Director of Asian Granito India Ltd.

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