In what is literally a shot in the arms for the likes of Olympic medal winners Abhinav Bindra and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, and upcoming shooters in the country, the finance ministry has made the import of air pellets of air rifles and air pistols of 0.177 calibre considerably cheaper by withdrawing the 10% customs duty on them. Consequently, the 4% special additional duty on them stands withdrawn.
While National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) already enjoys this exemption, the move will allow individual shooters to import pellets for their personal use. Arjuna award winning shooter Moraad Ali Khan pointed out, ?Air rifles and pistols are the best possible learning weapon and are easily available. Withdrawing the import duty on pellets will definitely encourage more people to take up the sport.?
Airguns are the basic training weapons used by those learning the sport. In contrast to other types of firearms, the training costs for air guns are low. Such weapons also do not require an arms licence. In this year?s Budget, the finance ministry had exempted air rifles and air pistols from the customs duty for everyone ? earlier, duty-free imports were allowed only for shooters registered with the NRAI who have participated in a national championship.
Air pellets in India are cheap ? a pack of 500 pellets costs as little as Rs 350. But domestically manufactured pellets are not considered good enough for practise or competitions as their gauge and hardness keeps varying. Hence, most budding shooters prefer to import them from countries like the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy.
NRAI secretary-general Baljit Singh Sethi said, ?This is a very good decision and will encourage the sport, especially as it will allow shooters to import pellets for their personal practice.?
The sports ministry and NRAI had been lobbying to extend the exemption granted in the Budget to air pellets as well. Sports minister MS Gill had written to finance minister P Chidambaram to give duty exemption to air pellets, as the move would help the country produce champion shooters in the future.
The move, however, may not be enough as in some states sale of air pellets attracts value added tax. ?For all the ammunition being sold by the NRAI for training and competition, the Delhi government charges a 12.5% Vat,? Khan said.