Government targets additional Rs 26,763 crore via customs duty

New Delhi: Government has set a target of additional Rs 26,763 crore from customs duty in the current fiscal to Rs 2,01,819 crore. In the last fiscal, the government has collected Rs 1,75,056 (RE) crore as customs duty, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Budgetary proposals presented to Lok Sabha on July 10.

Jaitley proposed basic customs duty at 10 percent on specified telecommunication products that are outside the purview of the Information Technology Agreement. Considering the need to conserve natural resources, Finance Minister also increased export duty on bauxite from 10 percent to 20 percent. He further proposed increasing the basic customs duty on imported flat-rolled products of stainless steel from 5 percent to 7.5 percent.

The Finance Minister, however, reduced basic custom duty on LCD and LED screens below 19 inch to zero from 10 per cent. He also exempted custom duty on inputs used for manufacture of personal computers from the current 4 per cent. Customs duty on coal was rationalised to 2.5 per cent from 2 per cent.