The General Budget 2011-12 seeks to encourage domestic value addition vis-à-vis imports, to remove duty inversions and anomalies and to provide a level playing field for the domestic industry. To this end, the Union Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee announced the following major proposals in the Budget presented in the Lok Sabha today:

• Reduction of basic customs duty on raw silk (not thrown) from 30 to 5 per cent;
• Reduction of basic customs duty from 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent on certain textile intermediates and inputs for chemicals, ferro-alloys and paper;
• Reduction of basic customs duty on certain specified inputs for manufacture of certain technical fibre and yarn from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent;
• Full exemption for stainless steel scrap from basic customs duty;
• Reduction of import duties on specified raw material for the manufacture of syringes and needles to 5 per cent basic and 4 per cent CVD;
• Extending the concession available to parts, components and accessories for manufacture of mobile handsets till March 31, 2012 and to include few more items in its ambit;
• Expanding the raw material list for manufacture of specified electronic components that are fully exempt from basic customs duty;
• Reduction in excise duty (and hence CVD) on parts of ink-jet and laser –jet printers from 10 per cent to 5 per cent.

The Finance Minister, Shri Mukherjee announced the enhanced rate of export duty for all types of iron ore at a unified 20 per cent ad-valorem. Full exemption from export duty has been provided to iron ore pellets to encourage the value addition process for fines.

Announcing relief for the cement industry, Shri Mukherjee said that the basic customs duty on two critical raw materials for this industry viz. petcoke and gypsum has been reduced to 2.5 per cent.

Cash dispensers and their parts have been fully exempted from basic customs duty, to drive the financial inclusion agenda of the Government.

Export duty unification on iron ore reshapes export incentives, with pellets exempted to encourage value addition. The General Budget 2011-12 reconfigures tariffs to promote domestic value addition and reduce duty anomalies by announcing reductions and exemptions in basic customs duty across multiple sectors; implementing a unified export duty on iron ore while exempting iron ore pellets to encourage processing; and reducing basic customs duty on petroleum coke and gypsum to provide relief to the cement industry.