Indirect Taxes

• No change in the peak rate of customs duty.
  
  
• Customs duty on Project Imports to reduce from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent; 4 percent special CVD to be imposed on a few specified projects in the power sector.
  
  
• Customs duty being reduced on steel melting scrap and aluminium scrap from 5 per cent to nil.
  
  
• Customs duty to be reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent on certain specified life saving drugs and on the bulk drugs used for the manufacture of such drugs. They are also being exempted from excise duty or countervailing duty.
  
  
• Customs duty is being reduced on vitamin premixes and mineral mixtures from 30 per cent to 20 per cent and on phosphoric acid from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent to reduce cost of manufacture of dairy and poultry feeds
  
  
• Customs duty being reduced on bactofuges from 7.5 per cent to nil for the benefit of dairy industry and to increase shelf life of milk
  
  
• Specified parts of set top boxes and specified raw materials for use in the IT/ electronic hardware industry to be exempted from customs duty.
  
  
• Customs duty on convergence products to be reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent to establish parity between devices used in the information/ communication sector and the entertainment sector
  
  
• Customs duty being reduced on specified machinery from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent to provide fillip to the manufacture of sports goods; duty also being exempted on specified raw materials for sports goods.
  
  
• Customs duty to be exempted on rough cubic zirconia and being reduced on polished
  
  
• Export duty on chrome being increased from Rs.2,000 per metric tonne to Rs.3,000 per metric tonne in order to conserve and make it available for value added manufacture in India.