According to stakeholders, the customs duty adjustments in the Union Budget 2023–24 will support exports and value-added local production. The Federation of Indian Export Organization (FIEO) has underlined that the customs duty increases will help to offer competitiveness to manufacturing and exports in addition to seeking import substitution.
Denatured ethyl alcohol and crude glycerine duty reductions will benefit downstream chemical industry customers, while duty reductions on essential ingredients for shrimp feed production will benefit marine exports.
Exports of gems and jewellery would be made easier by a reduction in tax on the seeds used to make lab-grown diamonds and a grant for the same ", according to FIEO President A. Sakthivel. Get
Export Import Data.
The government intends to remove excise duty on GST-paid compressed biogas contained in the budget, according to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in order to prevent cascading taxes on blended compressed natural gas.
In order to promote green mobility, she also suggested expanding the customs duty exemption to include imports of capital goods and machinery needed for the production of lithium-ion cells for batteries used in electric vehicles.
In order to facilitate the availability of raw materials for the steel industry, she further highlighted that the exemption from Basic Customs Duty on ferrous scrap, nickel cathode, and raw materials for the manufacture of CRGO Steel is being maintained.
However, for raw resources where India has adequate production capability, high tariffs are required. In this instance, the government is attempting to support value addition in areas where we lack the necessary capacity, but as and when that capacity is created through the use of production-linked incentives (PLI) and other programmes, the government may want to consider reviewing its approach, according to the speaker.
