Soap manufacturers want waiver of excise

Soap manufacturers have demanded waiver of the excise duty on soaps,which was imposed in 2007,if the Central government wanted the price of soaps to reduce. The manufacturers say the Centre’s decision to waive duty on Crude Palm Stirin (CPS) hoping to reduce the price of soaps was based on wrong facts. “In the corporate sector,only 2% of CPS is used while the small sector does not use it at all. So if prices need to be reduced 10% excise duty needs to be waived off,” said Surinder Arora,President of the Punjab Soap Manufacturers’ Association.