Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: An inter-ministerial group is looking into the European Union’s (EU) decision to impose a carbon tax on certain goods like steel and aluminium, as it would have some impact on India’s exports to that region.
Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Kumar Sarangi said on May 15 that there are seven commodities on which the EU has imposed the carbon tariff.
For India, only two sectors – steel and aluminium – are likely to be impacted by the new tax while for the rest the impact is minimal, as India does not export those commodities to the EU nations, Sarangi told reporters here.
“But it will definitely impact to some degree. The extent to which it can be mitigated, the extent to which our industry can adapt, the extent to which mutual recognition of testing and certification agencies can happen, these are all areas on which the inter-ministerial group is coordinating,” he said.
Commerce Secretary and many other Secretaries are discussing ways in which it could be tackled, he said further.
The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) of EU is a tool to put a fair price on the carbon emitted during the production of carbon intensive goods that are entering the EU, and to encourage cleaner industrial production in non-EU countries. The gradual introduction of CBAM is aligned with the phase-out of the allocation of free allowances under the EU Emissions Trading System to support decarbonisation of the EU industry.