The Indian Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, presented the Union Budget for 2025-26 in Parliament.
Several tax measures and customs duty changes were announced, impacting various products and services.
A new income tax bill will be introduced next week. Notably, 56 medicines, including life-saving drugs
and cancer medications, will become cheaper, while the prices of some items, such as TVs and knitted fabrics, will rise.
Here’s a breakdown of what’s becoming cheaper and what’s getting more expensive in Budget 2025.
Items That Became Cheaper in Budget 2025
Electronics and Mobile Devices: The government has reduced customs duties on various electronic goods.
This includes components of TVs and mobile phones, which are expected to become cheaper.
For example, the basic custom duty on open cells used in TV screens and mobile phones has been lowered.
Medicines and Cancer Treatment: The budget focuses on making medicines more affordable.
A significant reduction in customs duties was announced for 56 medicines, including cancer drugs and other life-saving medications.
Additionally, 36 life-saving medicines will be exempt from basic customs duty, benefiting patients with serious diseases.
Electric Vehicles and Batteries: The customs duty on 35 items related to electric vehicles (EVs) has been waived, which could lower the cost of EVs and batteries.
Similarly, 28 items associated with mobile phone batteries will also be exempt from customs duty.
Other Products
1) The duty on fish paste (Surimi) has been reduced from 30% to 5%, which will lower the price of frozen fish paste.
2) Wet Blue Leather will no longer attract the basic customs duty.
3) The cost of certain minerals, including cobalt powder and lithium-ion battery scrap, will decrease as they have been removed from the customs duty list.
Items That Became More Expensive in Budget 2025
While some products will become cheaper, others are set to increase in price. For example:
1) Flat-panel display TVs and TV displays will become more expensive due to increased customs duties.
2) Knitted fabrics will also see a price rise following changes in their import duties.
Gold and Silver: There is no change in the import duties on gold and silver, despite a previous proposal to reduce their customs duties by 6%. As a result, there won’t be any immediate impact on the prices of gold and silver.
The Budget 2025 aims to reduce the financial burden on consumers in certain sectors while increasing the cost of some goods, reflecting the government’s economic strategy.
