Customs duty regime next in line for reform

Reforming India’s customs duty regime—by lowering rates on select goods, increasing transparency, and reducing official discretion—will be the next major economic reform push, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.

- HT Correspondent

A comprehensive overhaul of the customs framework would be the continuation of a series of economic and regulatory overhauls that have eased the burden of compliance for businesses and consumers. This year alone, the finance minister streamlined income tax laws with the Income Tax Act 2025, besides lowering slabs in the Union budget, and, as chairperson of the GST Council, ushered in changes that rationalised India’s indirect tax structure.

Speaking at the 23rd Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, the minister said the proposed customs reforms would be similar to the simplification undertaken in the Income Tax Act, which is being administered under a new statute starting this April.