New Delhi: India's government will raise its capital expenditure by 33 per cent to 10 trillion rupees ($122.29 billion) in the next fiscal year, the finance minister said on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi tries to create jobs ahead of a general election.
The government is pressing ahead with putting the fiscal house in order, as it's key to winning higher credit score from ratings companies and keeping investor faith in the economy. India is currently rated at the lowest investment grade by all three main credit rating companies.
A number of commonly used items will become more expensive for consumers as a result of the budget. Mobile phones and television sets manufactured in India will be cheaper due to reductions in Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on imports of their components, but smokers will pay more because the government has raised taxes. With the finance minister raising customs duty, fully imported cars, including electric vehicles, and those assembled in India with imported parts will become more expensive.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the move is to further deepen domestic value addition in manufacture of mobile phones. She also proposed to reduce the BCD on parts of open cells of TV panels to 2.5 per cent to promote value addition in the manufacturing of televisions.
Mobile phone production in India had increased from 5.8 crore units valued at about Rs 18,900 crore in 2014-15 to 31 crore units valued at over Rs 2,75,000 crore in the last financial year, as a result of various initiatives of the government, including the 'Phased Manufacturing programme'
Here's a list of items that are likely become cheaper and costlier in next financial year:
Things that are set to be cheaper:
- Customs duty on parts of open cells of TV panels cut to 2.5%
- Government process to bring dozen customs duty on import of certain inputs for mobile phone manufacture
- Basic customs duty on seeds used in manufacturing of lab-grown diamonds will be reduced.
- Customs duty on shrimp feed to promote exports will be reduced to promote exports
- Concessional basic customs duty of 2.5% on copper scrap will continue.
- Custom duty rates on goods other than textiles and agriculture has been reduced
- Denaturated ethyl alcohol exempted from customs duty
Things that are set to be costlier:
- Taxes on cigarettes hiked by 16%
- Basic import duty on compounded rubber raiser to 25% from 10%
- Basic customs duty hiked on article made from gold bars
- Customs duty increased on silver dore, bars and imitation jewellries
- Customs duty on electric kitchen chimneys increased to 15% from 7.5%
- Duty on imported bicycles has been raised by 16.67%.
- Duty on imported bicycles has been raised by 16.67%.
- Electric vehicle imports will receive a boost from tax exemption for lithium ion batteries.
