Cotton excise duty 1896
Topic: Colonial Economy: Land Revenue, Drain, Deindustrialisation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The cotton excise duty was a tax on cloth made in Indian mills. The British government of India imposed it in 1896. India had a small import duty on British cotton goods. Lancashire mill owners complained that this duty helped Indian mills, so an equal tax was put on Indian mill cloth to cancel out the advantage. It matters because it showed that Indian economic policy was made to serve British industry, not Indian industry.
Example
In 1896 the duty covered all cloth made in Indian mills, including the cheap coarse cloth that poor Indians bought. The early nationalists condemned it as proof that Lancashire's interests ruled India's tariff policy. It was finally abolished in 1926.
Don't confuse with
- Import duty: an import duty is a tax on goods coming into India. An excise duty is a tax on goods made inside India. In 1896 the excise was used to cancel out the import duty.
Related concepts
- Bombay cotton mills
- Dwarkanath Tagore
- Opium trade with China
- Jamsetji Tata
- Tata Iron and Steel Company
- Managing agency
- Jobber
- Discriminating protection