Budget 2015: FM proposes reduction in duties to promote 'Make in India'

To promote domestic manufacturing and ‘Make in India’ for creation of more jobs, Arun Jaitley announced a series of cuts in customs and excise duties in the Union Budget 2015-16 presented in Parliament today.

Customs duties on certain inputs like metal parts, insulated wires and cables, refrigerators compressor parts, compounds used in catalytic converters, sulphuric acid for use in manufacture of fertilizers and compounds of video cameras have been reduced.

Similarly basic customs duty is being reduced on certain raw materials used in lathe machines from 7.5 percent, to 2.5 percent, medical video endoscopes from 5 percent to 2.5  percent, telecommunication grade optical fiber cables from7.5 percent to nil and LCD/LED TV panels from 10 percent to nil. CVD and SAD are being fully exempted on specified raw materials for use in the manufacture of pacemakers.

SAD is reduced in metal scrap of iron and steel, copper, brass and aluminum from 4 percent to 2 percent to address problem of CENVAT credit accumulation. For inputs for use in the manufacture of LED driver and MCPCB for LED lights, fixture and LED lamps SAD is reduced from 4 percent to nil.

Basic customs duty is increased for metallurgical coke. Tariff rate is increased on iron and steel and articles of iron or steel. Tariff rate on Commercial Vehicles is increased from 10 percent to 40 percent and effective rate from 10 percent to 20 percent.

Excise duty is restructured on certain goods such as wafers for use in the manufacture of integrated circuit (IC) modules for smart cards from 12 percent to 6 percent, inputs for use in the manufacture of LED lamps from 12 percent to 6 percent, specified raw materials for use in the manufacture of pacemakers to nil, solar water heater and system from 12.5 percent to nil and Tablet computers from 12 percent to 2 percent.