Speaking at a FICCI Conference on the Union Budget 2025-26, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs Chairman, Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, underlined that the government has undertaken a comprehensive rationalisation of customs duties across 8,500 tariff lines. The reform has reduced India's average customs duty rate from 11.65 per cent to 10.66 per cent, moving closer to ASEAN standards. This exercise was conducted to make structures simple while ensuring competitiveness of Indian industries remains intact, Agarwal said. The reforms include elimination of seven duty rate slabs and removal of surcharges on 82 tariff lines to simplify the tax structure. Key measures include duty reductions on critical minerals for semiconductors and clean energy, extending export periods for handicrafts from six months to one year, and customs duty cuts on frozen fish paste from 30 per cent to 5 per cent to boost marine exports. The mobile manufacturing sector, already an export success, will benefit from new duty exemptions on component parts.
More News
|
|