Cheaper and Costlier

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today announced a major reduction in customs duty on cancer medicines and mobile phones, which will significantly bring down their prices in the retail market. Imported gold, silver, leather goods and seafood will also get cheaper.

"The government will exempt 3 more cancer treatment drugs from Customs duty. I will also reduce basic customs duty on mobile phones, chargers, and other mobile parts," Ms Sitharaman said while presenting Budget 2024 in the parliament.

Cheaper

Following the Budget 2024 announcement, several items are set to become more affordable. Customs duty on mobiles, chargers, and accessories has been reduced to 15%. The duty on gold and silver is now 6%, while platinum is set at 6.4%. Additionally, three cancer treatment medicines are exempt from basic customs duty.

The government has also removed basic customs duties on ferro nickel and blister copper. The Finance Minister has proposed expanding the list of exempted capital goods for solar panel manufacturing. Customs duties on 25 critical minerals have been fully removed, and duties on shrimp and fish feed have been lowered to 5%.

Costlier

The government plans to increase customs duties, raising the rate on ammonium nitrate by 10% and on non-biodegradable plastics by 25%. Additionally, telecom products will become more expensive due to a rise in the basic customs duty from 10% to 15% on certain telecom equipment. Plastic products will also see a price increase following a hike in customs duty on these items.