Budget 2023: Gold, mobiles, EVs, TVs; here's what will be cheaper and what gets costlier

Union Budget 2023: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday made some changes in customs and excise duties in Budget 2023-24, making some products cheaper while others costlier. Among the products that are going to be costlier are gold, cigarettes, and headphones. Mobile phones, electric vehicles, and television are going to be cheaper as the duty has been slashed in the Union Budget 2023.

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What's getting cheaper

Mobile phones

During her budget speech in Parliament, Sitharaman said mobile phone production in India has increased from 5.8 crore units valued at about Rs 18,900 crore in 2014-15 to 31 crore units valued at over Rs 2,75,000 crore in the last financial year. To further deepen domestic value addition in the manufacture of mobile phones, she proposed to provide relief in customs duty on the import of certain parts and inputs like a camera lens and continue the concessional duty on lithium-ion cells for batteries for another year.

Television

The finance minister also brought down the taxes on open cells of TV panels, making television cheaper. "To promote value addition in the manufacture of televisions, I propose to reduce the basic customs duty on parts of open cells of TV panels from 5 to 2.5 per cent," she said.

EVs

Sitharaman also slashed the duty on the seeds for use in the manufacturing of rough lab-grown diamonds from 5 per cent to nil. However, fully imported luxury cars and EVs will cost more as the government has raised customs duty from 60 to 70 per cent in Budget. The finance minister has brought down the duty on specified capital goods/machinery for the manufacture of the lithium-ion cell for use in battery of electrically operated vehicles EVs to zero.

What's getting costlier

Gold and silver

Gold and silver jewellery are going to be costlier. "Silver (including silver plated with gold or platinum), unwrought or in semi-manufactured forms, or in powder form 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent," Sithraman said in her budget speech. Duty has also been increased on articles of precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum from 20 to 25 per cent.

"Customs duties on dore and bars of gold and platinum were increased earlier this fiscal. I now propose to increase the duties on articles made therefrom to enhance the duty differential. I also propose to increase the import duty on silver dore, bars and articles to align them with that on gold and platinum," she said.

Cigarettes

The finance minister has also increased excise duty on cigarettes. "The Finance Minister proposed to revise upwards the National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) on specified cigarettes by about 16%. It was last revised 3 years ago," the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.