SHRI S. BANGARAPPA (SHIMOGA): There are four government-owned newsprint manufacturing units in India. The total production capacity of these four units is around 4.5 lakh tonnes against a total annual demand of 6.5 lakh tonnes. The shortfall is met from imports.

Till 1992 the imports were restricted to actual users who could import newsprint at a ratio of 4:1 (i.e.) for every one tonne of newsprint imported.

The overseas newsprint exporters formed themselves into a cartel and started dumping large quantities of newsprint in the Indian market. The landed price cost of imported newsprint (deliberately kept low) is much lower than the cost of the indigenous newsprint.

In 1995-96 a recommendation was made by the Kelkar Committee to impose a 40 per cent duty on imported newsprint, to give some relief to the indigenous units, but strangely this was not accepted or implemented by the Government of India.

Presently, there are about 35,000 newspapers/magazines/periodicals registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India entitling them to import any quantity of newsprint without payment of customs duty irrespective of the fact that more than 80 per cent of these newspapers do not come out regularly according to the Indian Newspapers Society.

I, therefore, request the Union Government to take remedial measures by adopting a national newsprint policy and anti-dumping measures to be initiated through imposing customs duty at the rate of 40 per cent on imported newsprint as recommended by the Kelkar Committee, clamping of a counter-vailing duty on imported newsprint to provide a level-playing field to indigenous units by restricting imports ceiling to about two lakh tonnes (shortfall) annually and issuing import entitlement certificates by the Registrar of Newspapers for India based upon actual circulation of a newspaper/periodical.

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