CII seeks duty recast

New Delhi, Dec. 3: Industry chamber CII today asked the government to rationalise all customs duties to the peak rate of 12.5 per cent. CII, in its pre-budget memorandum to the finance ministry, has said that several product categories continue to attract significantly high duty rates, ranging from 15 per cent to 150 per cent despite the peak rate reaching 12.5 per cent since March 2006. Peak rate is the most commonly used rate of customs duty.

Car excise

New Delhi, Dec. 3: Major car makers, including Hyundai, Honda, Toyota and GM have sought extension of excise duty concessions on small cars to medium and big cars, though Maruti appears to be content with the duty structure.

HLL move

Calcutta, Dec. 3: Hindustan Lever is organising alternative dispute redressal fora in different cities. After Ahmedabad and Mumbai, the third such exercise will begin at Calcutta tomorrow and shareholders will get an opportunity to settle their disputes.

IDBI plan

Mumbai, Dec. 3: IDBI Bank plans to hive off the gilts business from IDBI Capital Markets Services and set up a separate, wholly owned subsidiary called IDBI Gilts for the purpose.

Investment

Madurai, Dec. 3: Claiming that India is riding an “investment boom” whose growth had touched 57 per cent, finance minister P. Chidambaram today said this should be maintained for the next four to five years to sustain economic growth of 8 to 9 per cent.