Providing relief to consumers, the Centre will reduce the basic customs duty on mobile phones, mobile charger to 15%, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced while presenting the 2024 Union Budget on July 23

“For customs, we reduced the number of customs duty rates in 2022-23. I propose to rationalise them after a review over next six months,” Ms. Sitharaman said while announcing the proposed changes in the customs duties levied on various items.

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“With a three-fold increase in domestic production over the last six years, the Indian industry has matured. I now propose to reduce the basic customs duty to 15% on mobile phones and chargers,” she said in the Lok Sabha.

Smartphone manufacturing is a key plank of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitions to boost the Indian economy and create jobs by attracting companies such as Apple, Foxconn and Samsung to India, the world’s second-largest mobile market where production grew 16% year-on-year to $44 billion last year.

The proposal to slash the customs duty of mobile parts and accessories came after then Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar voiced concerns about India losing out due to the uncompetitive tariffs.

“Tariffs are becoming a hurdle,” the Minister had said in his presentation. “We need to shift tariff policy to suit our new ambitions. Exports, not domestic.”

Three cancer medicines fully exempted; Leather and textile garments to see reduction in customs duties

In other announcements relating to customs duty, Ms. Sitharaman said that to provide relief to cancer patients, three more medicines will be fully exempted from customs duty. “I propose changes in the basic customs duty on X-ray tubes and flat panel detectors for domestic X-ray machines’ production,” she added.

“For critical minerals, I propose to fully exempt customs duty on 25 minerals and reduce duty on two of them. This will provide a major fillip to the processing and refining of these minerals and boost their availability for strategic sectors like renewable energy, nuclear power, defence and high-value electronics.”

Leather and textile garments will also see reduction in customs duties for raw materials, the Union Finance Minister highlighted, with import duty structure for raw hides, skin and leather to be rationalised

“For gems and jewellery production, I propose to reduce import duties on gold and silver to 6%, and platinum to 6.5%.”

Import duty will be raised from 10% to 25% on some items to support existing and new capacities in chemicals and petrochemicals.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today presented the Union Budget 2024 in Parliament, marking her seventh consecutive budget. She listed out the following nine priorities for the FY 2024-25 Union Budget: productivity and resilience in agriculture, employment and skilling, inclusive human resource development and social justice, manufacturing and services, urban development, energy security, infrastructure, innovation research development, and next generation reforms