New Delhi: The Union Budget 2026-27 has introduced a series of changes in customs duties that will directly impact the prices of several imported goods. While essential medicines and key industrial components are set to become cheaper, a number of consumer and commercial items will turn more expensive due to higher basic customs duty. The revised duty structure aims to provide relief in healthcare and strategic sectors while promoting domestic manufacturing and rationalising imports.
What gets cheaper:
Several life-saving medicines will become more affordable following the customs duty cuts. As many as 17 cancer drugs have been exempted from basic customs duty. Drugs, medicines and food for special medical purposes used in the treatment of seven rare diseases will also become cheaper. In addition, medicines and drugs imported for personal use have been granted duty relief.
On the manufacturing and infrastructure front, key components used in microwave ovens will attract lower duties. Components and parts, including aircraft engines, have been exempted to support the aviation sector. Solar glass ingredients used in renewable energy projects will become cheaper, along with goods imported for nuclear power projects. Capital goods required for processing critical minerals have also been granted customs duty exemption.
What gets costlier:
At the same time, several imported items will become more expensive due to an increase in basic customs duty. Low-cost imported umbrellas will now cost more. ATM and cash dispenser machines, along with their parts and components, have been placed under a higher duty structure. Potassium hydroxide has also been made costlier.
Film and broadcasting equipment imported by foreign crews will attract higher duties, as will imported zoo animals and birds. Certain fertiliser inputs, including ammonium phosphate, nitro-phosphate fertilisers and naphtha, will see a rise in import costs. Coffee roasting, brewing or vending machines and castor oil cake will also become more expensive under the revised customs regime.
The government said the customs duty changes are designed to ease the cost burden on healthcare and strategic sectors, while encouraging domestic production and discouraging non-essential imports.
