New Delhi, Nov 20 (PTI) Secondary aluminium manufacturers on Thursday urged the government to rationalise the 7.5 per cent import duty on primary aluminium, a key raw material for downstream MSMEs, stating that the sector is facing a severe cost and competitiveness crisis driven by an inverted tariff structure and rising regulatory burdens.

The inverted duty structure is crippling small manufacturers who form the backbone of India's aluminium value chain, Navendu K Bhardwaj, member, Aluminium Secondary Manufacturers Association (ASMA), said in a statement.

"If raw material prices continue to stay artificially high, downstream industries cannot compete, neither in the domestic market nor globally," Bhardwaj said.

He said that high import duties inflate the domestic cost of primary alumin

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