The revenue department has already been asked to identify customs anomalies for the purpose. Also, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has been asked to arrive at an "intra-sector consensus" on such moves, failing which, the finance minister said, the ministry will go ahead with its rationalisation anyway.

Speaking at an interactive seminar organised by the CII in Mumbai, finance minister Yashwant Sinha said that a "major simplification" in the excise structure will be introduced in the next budget.

Sinha admitted that the current excise structure was cumbersome and the finance ministry, he said, will do all that is necessary to remove the difficulties faced by the trade and industry.

On the customs front, Sinha agreed that despite attempts made by his ministry to correct the duty structure, there are sectors where raw materials are levied a higher rate of import duty than intermediaries and finished products.

The department of revenue, Sinha said, has been asked to identify areas where the duty structure is lopsided. "We will go out of our way to clean up the varying rates of duties in various sectors," the finance minister said, "to address the problem of customs diversity". Even the cumbersome nature of the exemptions provided for in the various statutes will also be looked into, he added.

Earlier at the CII-organised meet, Sailesh Seth, representing the Capital Goods Committee of CII, and Yashwant Deosthali, vice-president (finance) of Larsen & Toubro, requested the finance minister to correct the customs duty anomalies as they were adversely affecting several key sectors.

Advocating a long-lasting partnership between the government and industry, Sinha sought the support of CII to clean up the duty aberrations. "I have already asked CII president Rajesh Shah to achieve a sectoral consensus to clean up the varying rates of duty. If they do not obtain a consensus on this issue, we will be forced to go ahead on our own," Sinha said.

Responding to concern from a section of the industry about the proposed Money Laundering Bill and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Fema), Sinha said that the bills are currently being examined by the Cabinet Standing Committee on Finance. "We will look into the industry concerns once we receive their recommendations," Sinha assured captains of the industry.

Commenting on the insurance sector reforms unleashed by his government, the finance minister said that the issue of foreign equity in insurance companies is currently being debated and a decision will be taken shortly.