Finance Minister Proposes Rationalizing Customs Duty Structure
#BasicCustomDuty #MobilePhones #UnionBudget #CustomDuty #DomesticManufacturing #Budget“In the interest of consumers, I now propose to reduce the Basic Custom Duty (BCD) on mobile phone, mobile PCBA and mobile charger to 15 percent.” - Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs
July 2024 : In her Budget Speech, the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman proposed new reform in Customs Duties to support domestic manufacturing, deepen local value addition, promote export competitiveness, and simplify taxation. The reforms have been announced keeping the interest of the general public and consumers surmount, said the Finance Minister.
New Customs Duty rates have been proposed for commodities from life saving medicines to rare earth minerals.
The Finance Minister said that the last six years have seen a three-fold increase in domestic production of mobile phones and almost a hundred-fold jump in exports of mobile phones. “In the interest of consumers, I now propose to reduce the Basic Custom Duty (BCD) on mobile phone, mobile PCBA and mobile charger to 15 percent,” Ms. Sitharaman while presenting the Union Budget 2024-25 in Parliament today.
The Finance Minister also announced full exemption of Customs Duties on 25 Critical Minerals and while reducing BCD on two of them. This will benefit sectors like space, defence, telecommunications, high-tech electronics, nuclear energy and renewable energy, where these rare earth minerals are critical. In a further boost to the renewable energy sector, the Finance Minister announced the expansion of the list of exempted capital goods for use in the manufacture of solar cells and panels in the country. “Further, in view of sufficient domestic manufacturing capacity of solar glass and tinned copper interconnect, I propose not to extend the exemption of Customs Duties provided to them,” the Minister said.
Reduction and exemption in Customs Duty have also been announced for various leather raw materials to enhance the competitiveness of exports in the leather and textile sectors. Furthermore, the export duty structure on raw hides, skins and leather is proposed to be simplified and rationalized.
Customs Duties on gold and silver have been reduced from 15 percent to 6 percent while that on platinum from 15.4 percent to 6.4 percent, to enhance domestic value addition in Gold and precious metal jewellery in the country. Further, BCD on ferro nickel and blister copper have been removed to reduce the cost of production of steel and copper.
The Minister also said that a comprehensive review of the Customs Duty rate structure will be undertaken over the next six months to rationalize and simplify it for ease of trade, removal of duty inversion and reduction of disputes.
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