Presenting the General Budget 2011-12 here today, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister announced that:
• Full exemption from basic Customs Duty and a concessional rate of Central Excise Duty is proposed to be extended to batteries imported by manufacturers of electric vehicles.
• A concessional Excise Duty of 10% has also been proposed to vehicles based on fuel cell technology.
• The Excise Duty on kits used for conversion of fossil fuel vehicles into hybrid vehicles has also been reduced.
• The Excise Duty on LEDs is proposed to be reduced to 5% and special CVD being fully exempted.
• The basic Customs Duty on solar lantern is proposed to be reduced from 10 to 5%.
• Full exemption from basic Customs Duty has been proposed to crude palm stearin used in manufacturing of laundry soap.
• Full exemption from basic Excise Duty granted to enzyme based preparation for pre-tanning has also been proposed.
