‘Slower FY27 customs revenue growth reflects India’s push for competitiveness, trade liberalisation’
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : The moderation in customs duty revenue growth projected for fiscal year 2027 (FY27) in the Union budget is due to lowering customs duty on raw materials and inputs to make Indian businesses more competitive, the chairperson of India’s Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Vivek Chaturvedi, told Mint in an interview. Also contributing is trade liberalisation being pursued under free trade agreements (FTAs), which will secure greater external market access for Indian businesses, according to Chaturvedi.
“Any agreement with preferential market access will be lowering tariffs. That will of course have a revenue impact," he said, adding that FTAs help Indian industry expand its global footprint. The budget had projected a 5% growth in customs duty revenue collection in FY27 to ₹2.71 trillion, a moderation from the 11% growth estimated for FY26.
Chaturvedi explained that customs duty exemptions have been granted on import of several capital goods in the budget for promoting domestic manufacturing and value addition. Thirdly, early in 2025-26, customs duty rates on edible oils were kept high when there was a surge in edible oil imports. “We don't expect that surge to be there in 2026-27.
So, we pegged our forecast for 2026-27 to be a modest 5% growth," he said. The CBIC chairperson said the moderate growth projection was a conscious decision keeping in mind the steps being taken to build competitiveness of the domestic manufacturing industry, making it resilient and achieving sustained industrial growth to achieve the status of an advanced nation by 2047. India has successfully concluded a spate of deals with trade partners, the latest being negotiations on an FTA
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