The Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, convened a meeting on taxation issues with Paper Industry Associations, under the chairmanship of Mr. Anil Agrawal, Joint Secretary, DPIIT, on 13^th May 2019 at Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi. Other officials of DPIIT and CPPRI were also present.

Mr. A S Mehta, President, and Secretary General attended the meeting on behalf of IPMA. The Joint Secretary was apprised of the main issues highlighted in IPMA’s Pre-Budget Memorandum 2019-20, including the need for uniform GST rates on all paper grades, GST rate on pulp wood, imposition of basic customs duty on import of newsprint, etc. Other issues, including private sector involvement in afforestation of degraded government and forest land, review of India’s free trade agreements (FTAs), issue of Quality Control Order (QCO) on Copier Paper, etc. were also highlighted.