Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to announce some relief for sectors such as healthcare, ready-made garments and silk weaving in his statement on the Finance Bill in Parliament. He may also announce some measures to partly offset the impact of the proposed one per cent excise duty on 130 goods, which were exempted from the duty earlier.
For the 130 items, which were proposed to be taxed as the government plans to move towards a ‘minimum exemptions’ regime in the form of the proposed Goods and Services Tax, the finance minister may announce simplification of some procedures to ease the burden of excise duty for these businesses.
The Budget proposals on healthcare had received criticism from various quarters. It had proposed to levy service tax on diagnostic services, centrally air-conditioned hospitals with over 25 beds and services provided by a doctor in such hospitals. It may partially roll back the levy.
For silk weavers, the government may announce some changes in the Customs duty. The Budget had proposed to bring down the basic Customs duty on raw silk of all grades from 30 per cent to five per cent. The move was opposed by silk weavers who feared the reduction in duty would affect the domestic industry.
Under pressure from the garment industry over levy of excise duty on branded garments, the finance ministry may also suggest some changes to its Budget proposals. While a complete rollback of the duty is ruled out, it is likely to make the duty optional for garment manufacturers, although with some riders.
There might be some relief for the automobile industry, which could be communicated later through a notification. The industry has been mounting pressure on the government to review its decision to impose an additional duty on imports of completely knocked down kits.