Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in the 2024 Union Budget, announced several reductions in customs duties on items such as gold, silver, and platinum. Sitharaman noted, “We reduced the number of customs duty rates in 2022-23 and plan to streamline them further after a review over the next six months.” She also mentioned the government’s aim to simplify and rationalize the GST tax structure. In the Interim Budget presented on February 1, no significant changes were announced.
Here is a summary of items with adjusted prices:
Items that have become cheaper:
- Duty on mobiles, chargers, and accessories reduced to 15%.
- Customs duty on gold and silver lowered to 6%, and on platinum to 6.4%.
- Three cancer treatment drugs exempted from basic customs duty.
- Removal of basic customs duty on ferro nickel and blister copper.
- Expansion of the exempted capital goods list for solar panel manufacturing.
- Full customs duty exemption on 25 critical minerals.
- Reduction in customs duty on shrimp and fish feed to 5%.
- Customs duty cut on leather goods.
- Reduced duty on X-ray machines for medical, surgical, dental, or veterinary use.
Items that have become costlier:
- Basic customs duty on certain telecom equipment increased from 10% to 15%.
- Higher customs duty on plastic products.
- Duty on ammonium nitrate raised from 7.5% to 10%.
- Increased customs duty on imported garden umbrellas.
- Higher duty on laboratory chemicals.
Additionally, for those choosing the new tax regime, the standard deduction for salaried employees will rise from Rs 50,000 to Rs 75,000. The government also proposes increasing the capital gains exemption limit for certain financial assets to Rs 1.25 lakh per year for the middle and upper middle class.