Budget 2023-24: What gets costlier, what's cheaper? Details here
What's the story
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered her fifth annual budget to Parliament on Wednesday.
As part of Budget 2023-24, she outlined numerous critical reforms to the customs tariff scheme.
This will have an influence on the prices of numerous goods in the country.
Here is a list of products that will become costlier or cheaper.
Context
Why does this story matter?
The budget for 2023-24 is significant because the next Lok Sabha election is anticipated for April-May 2024.
It also aims to lay the groundwork for India's growth momentum at a time when the global economy is experiencing a slowdown and possible recession.
The budget also tries to create an appealing and secure environment in areas such as capital expenditure, labor policies, and tax regimes.
Costlier
These items will get costlier
Customs duty on several items has been hiked in this budget.
As a result, some items that are expected to become more expensive include cigarettes (16%), compounded rubber (25%), and kitchen electric chimneys (15%).
Further, the custom duty on articles made from gold bars has also been increased, which will lead to a rise in their price.
Cheaper
TV and mobile phone to become cheaper
Parts of mobile phones and TV are expected to cost lesser as the government has decided to give duty concessions to makers of mobile phone manufacturing and TV panels.
Besides, diamonds will soon become cheaper as customs duty on lab-grown diamonds has been reduced.
The government has also reduced customs duty on shrimp feed to promote exports.
Details
Other items that become cheaper or costlier
Other items that will become cheaper include machinery for lithium-ion batteries, and raw materials for Electic Vehicle (EV) industry. This is expected to give a boost to electronic manufacturing.
Basic custom-duty on textiles and agricultural goods has also been reduced.
Meanwhile, the customs duty on imitation jewelry, silver products, imported bicycles, imported toys, and imported electronic vehicles has been hiked by the central government.
Finance Minister
Budget 2023-24 is Sitharaman's fifth consecutive presentation
Sitharaman presented her fifth consecutive annual budget on Wednesday, a day after the Budget Session of the Parliament kicked off.
The Budget focuses a great deal on the investment sector, health, and green energy.
However, critics of the government and Opposition leaders said that it makes no mention of the rural poor, unemployment, and inflation in the budget.