Union Budget 2025-26: What get costlier, cheaper

Here’s what gets costlier and cheaper as per the Union Budget 2025-26

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has once again laid out customs duties and import tariffs changes for the upcoming fiscal year. These changes make some items costlier and others cheaper as the relevant tariff rates increase or decrease. Here is what will get cheaper and costlier as laid out in the Budget for 2025-26.

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Some items featured in last year’s budget, too. For instance, cancer drugs, fish and shrimp feed and mobile phone chargers were cheaper after last year’s customs revisions. Materials involved in the production of these items saw cuts in basic customs duties this year, too.

The Basic Customs Duty (BCD) for raw materials to manufacture ships remained the same, with no change in the exemption from last year. As part of critical minerals, Ms. Sitharaman announced reduction in BCD for cobalt powder and waste, lithium-ion battery scrap, lead, zinc and 12 more critical minerals. The exemptions were meant to boost manufacturing and jobs.