Budget 2025: What’s cheaper and what’s costlier

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her eighth consecutive Union Budget for the fiscal year 2025-2026. Here are the items that have become cheaper and costlier for consumers.

This is the second full budget of the Modi 3.0 government, which returned to power at the Centre in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This year’s budget focuses on 10 broad areas, starting with agriculture, manufacturing, employment, MSMEs, uplifting rural areas, innovation.

“This budget aims to work on transformative reforms,” Sitharaman said in her budget speech.

Items that got cheaper

As many as 36 drugs for cancer, rare diseases will also be exempted from Basic Customs Duty.

Government proposed to exempt Basic Custom Duty on 37 more medicines.

Centre proposes to fully exempt cobalt product, LED, zinc, lithium-ion battery scrap and 12 critical minerals from Basic Customs Duty.

Basic Customs Duty exempted on raw materials for manufacturing ships for another 10 years.

Basic Customs Duty to be reduced to 5 per cent from 30 per cent on fish pasteurii.

The Centre also announced scheme to further promote handicraft exports.

The government will fully exempt wet blue leather from Basic Customs Duty.

Items that got costlier

The government proposed to increase Basic Customs Duty on interactive flat panel display to 20 per cent from 10 per cent. This, the finance minister said, is aimed at rectifying the inverted duty structure.

Additionally, the finance minister proposed a time limit for provisional assessment fixed at two years.

During last year’s Union Budget, the finance minister had announced measures resulting in the reduction of mobile phone, gold, silver, and copper prices.

Three cancer treatment medicines were also exempted from the Basic Customs Duty.

The central government, in 2024, had proposed rise in customs duty on non-biodegradable plastics to 25 percent. Basic customs duty on specified telecom equipment also increased from 10 per cent to 15 per cent.