New Delhi (PTI): India's auto industry on Tuesday asked the government to slap a 35 per cent anti-dumping duty on capital goods imports from China, arguing that the measure was necessary to offset the indirect subsidy that Beijing offers to its industry by way of fixed exchange rate.

A delegation, comprising among others Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers Director General Dilip Chenoy and Tata Motors Managing Director Ravi Kant, called on Finance Minister P Chidambaram and demanded that such a measure was necessary to counter slowdown in India's industrial production.

They contended that the domestic industry was hit by the appreciation in rupee and has also seen its cost competitiveness erode due to the fixed rate of exchange for the Chinese unit against the dollar, the main invoicing currency for trade.

The industry representatives argued that this fixed rate of exchange translated into an indirect subsidy of around 30 per cent to manufacturers in China.

Besides, the delegation also sought easy financing for automobile and making special additional duty on imported cars non-modvatable to protect the local industry.