The overall excise duty has been hiked from 4 per cent to 8 per cent for some items. But items like biscuits, cakes, pressure cookers, vacuum and gas-filled bulbs of retail selling price of not more than Rs 20 per bulb, certain varieties of paper, paperboard and related articles were put under the exempted items list.
There was some good news for the durables segment, also. With a reduction in the Customs duty from 10 per cent to 5 per cent on LCD panels, such televisions might become cheaper. Even branded jewellery would be cheaper because the excise duty has been removed.
Imported set-top boxes would become costlier because of a Customs duty of 5 per cent. Similarly, the price of footwear costing over Rs 750 would go up because of a higher excise rate of 8 per cent.
Also, increase in the excise duty on man-made fibres and yarn from 4 per cent to 8 per cent would impact prices of textile and consequently, clothing. Equally bad news was on the front of excise duty on PTA and DMT, which are used as inputs for textiles and plastic products.
Overall, though the finance minister did not touch some of the basic articles used in day-to-day life, he did not bring much relief to housewives either. In fact, day-to-day costs would continue to stay high. And the impact of higher excise and Customs rates on certain items could only make things more difficult.
