Budget 2023: Smoking to be costlier, custom duty on cigarettes increased

The stock of Godfrey Phillips slumped as much as 4.92 percent to Rs 1,828.75 on the BSE, while Golden Tobacco declined 3.81 per cent to Rs 59.4. Shares of ITC were trading 0.78 per cent lower at Rs 349 on the bourse.
NTC Industries dropped 1.4 per cent and VST Industries slipped 0.35 per cent.

A sales representative of an electronics  store watch live telecast of Union budget 2023 on Wednesday in Ahmedabad. (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran)

Besides cigarette, jwellery made of gold is also going to be dearer as basic customs duty has been hiked on articles made from gold bars. However, the govt reduced basic customs duty on seeds used in manufacturing of lab-grown diamonds.

For parents, there was some good news in the budget as basic custom duties have been reduced on toys, bicycles.
“I propose to reduce the number of basic custom duty rates on goods other than textiles and agriculture, from 21 to 13. As a result, there are minor changes in the basic custom duties, cesses and surcharges on some items including toys, bicycles, automobiles,” said Sitharaman.

The budget also brought some relief to those having passion for photography as it propose reduction in custom duty on camera lens. “I propose to provide relief on Customs Duty on import of certain parts and inputs like camera lens and continue the concessional duty on lithium-ion cells for batteries for another year,” said the minister.

To promote value addition in the manufacturing of TVs, the minister proposed to reduce the Basic Customs Duty on parts of open cells of TV panels to 2.5%.

Union Budget 2023: All you need to know

• ↗️ Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Union Budget 2023 has some big takeaways
• ↗️ First, what everyone has been looking forward to: changes in the new income tax regime. She has made the new tax regime more attractive. There are changes in the rebate limit and in tax slabs. What does this mean for the taxpayer?
• ↗️ FM Sitharaman proposed a 33% increase in capital investment outlay, raising it to Rs 10 lakh crore. This is the biggest in the past decade. What does it mean?
• ↗️ Some articles get cheaper and others get costlier due to changes in customs duty. Here is a list
• ↗️ The capital outlay for the railways has been increased to the highest ever – Rs 2.40 lakh crore. The government is trying to create more jobs
• ↗️ FM Sitharaman said the fiscal deficit will fall to 5.9% of the GDP. What does it mean for the stakeholders?
• ↗️ The FM called it the ‘first Budget of Amrit Kaal’. PM Narendra Modi said it will build a strong foundation for a developed India. What did opposition leaders say?