Carrying forward the initiatives taken for agriculture and agro-processing sectors, the Government proposed to reduce basic customs duty from 7.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent on sugarcane planter, root or tuber crop harvesting machine and rotary tiller and weeder and parts for the manufacture of these. TheUnion Finance Minister ShriPranab Mukherjee announced this while presenting the Union Budget 2012-13 in Lok Sabha today. He also announced to reduce basic customs duty from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent on specified coffee plantation and processing machinery. The basic customs duty was also reduced on some water soluble fertilizers and liquid fertilizers, other than urea, from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent and from 5 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
Giving substantial relief to the fertilizer sector Shri Mukherjee announced that imports of equipment for initial setting-up or substantial expansion of fertilizer projects are being fully exempted from basic customs duty of 5 per cent for a period of three years up to March 31, 2015.
