Budget 2024: Print sector disappointed as govt gives no relief on newsprint cost duty

The print industry has expressed its disappointment with the Union Budget presented on Tuesday as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced no relief for the sector. Print players were looking forward to government giving them relief from 5% newsprint cost duty.

With the hope of ease in their financial burden dashed, the industry seemed dispirited post the Budget.

Expressing the sentiment of the sector, a stakeholder said, “We are disheartened, but we will continue making requests.”

A print sector’s media analyst expressed, “Despite repeated requests, nothing has changed in the Budget. Now the situation will only get better if the FMCG and auto sectors come back to print as advertisers.”

Some other print sector leaders said they would continue with their operations as usual. “What else could we do?” said a leading publication’s top executive.

He continued, “The print industry has been demanding the removal of newsprint cost duty for the last 5-6 years but nothing has been done. If our annual newsprint cost is about Rs 700 crore, the duty comes out to be Rs 35 crore. It would have been a great help for the sector if it was removed. We can always redeem that amount with the GST benefit and continue to further make requests.”

For print publications, the operational cost has been very high due to the custom duty. Other factors, including the Russia-Ukraine war, have impacted the supply, leading to a surge in the newsprint cost for the industry. The newsprint cost has risen by 7-8% in the recent quarters, crossing $600 per metric tonne. The cost was around $400 per metric tonne before the pandemic impacted the printing and publishing sector.

Another reason mentioned by industry players for the rise in the newsprint cost earlier was the declining cost of Indian rupee. The diminishing value of Inian rupee has added pressure on the print media industry, which is majorly dependent on imports.