New Delhi

 

In budget 2019-20, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has tinkered customs duty on some of the products to promote Make in India, reduce import dependence, protect MSMEs, promote clean energy, curb non-essential imports and correct inversions.

 

To provide level playing field to domestic industry, Budget has increased custom duties on 36 items such as fatty acids (acid oils from refining used in manufacture of oleochemicals and soaps); polyvinyl chloride (PVC); butyl rubber; chlorobutyl rubber or bromobutyl rubber; paper for newsprint and magazines; water blocking tapes for manufacture of optical fiber cables; stainless steel products; wire of other alloy steel (other than INVAR); windows, blinds, hinge for automobiles; Indoor and outdoor unit of split-system AC; stone crushing (cone type) plants for the construction of roads; charger/power adapter of CCTV camera/IP camera and DVR / NVR loudspeaker; digital video recorder (DVR) and network video recorder (NVR); CCTV camera and IP camera; optical Fibres, optical fibre bundles and cables; friction material and articles thereof (for example, sheets, rolls, strips, segments, discs, washers, pads), not mounted, for brakes and clutches; locks of a kind used in motor vehicles; catalytic converter; oil or petrol filters for internal combustion engines (ICEs); intake air filters for ICEs; lghting or visual signaling equipment of a kind used in bicycles or motor vehicles; horns for vehicle; completely built unit (CBU)of vehicles; chassis fitted with engines for the motor vehicles; bodies (including cabs) for the motor vehicles; etc.

 

Similarly, to support domestic industry, budget has proposed to reduce customs duty on following raw materials and capital goods naphtha; methyloxirane (propylene oxide); ethylene dichloride (EDC); inputs for the  manufacture of CRGO steel (MgO coated cold rolled steel coils, hot rolled coils, cold-rolled MgO coated and annealed steel, hot rolled annealed and pickled coils, and cold rolled full hard); capital goods used for manufacturing of electronic items (namely populated PCBA, camera module of cellular mobile phones, charger/adapter of cellular mobile phone, lithium ion cell, display module, set top box and compact camera module)

 

While customs duty is imposed on certain electronic goods, now being manufactured in India to promote domestic industry, custom duty on the other hand is removed on certain other capital goods required for manufacture of specified electronic goods.

 

To encourage export of sports goods, certain items to a certain limit, like foam and pinewood are included in the list of items allowed for duty free import. Similarly, “Export duty is being rationalised on raw and semi-finished leather to provide relief to this sector,” said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

 

She added, “Defence has an immediate requirement of modernisation and upgradation. This is national priority. For this purpose, import of defence equipment that are not being manufactured in India are being exempted from the basic customs duty.”