Government to excuse customs duty on Remdesivir and oxygen for 3 months

The Union Government has decided to grant full exemption from basic customs duty and health cess on import of oxygen-related equipment for a period of three months with immediate effect. The government said, "The decisions were taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Principal Secretary to the PM, and other senior officials.

He was told that basic customs duty was exempted on Remdesivir and its API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) recently, and a suggestion was made that the import of equipment related to providing oxygen to patients needs to be expedited, the government statement said, announcing the measures.

The Prime Minister emphasised that there was an immediate need to augment the supply of medical grade oxygen as well as equipment required for patient care both at home and in hospitals. During the meeting, the government also decided that basic customs duty on import of Covid vaccines be exempted with immediate effect for a period of 3 months.

The items to benefit from the decision include medical grade oxygen, oxygen concentrator along with flow meter, regulator, connectors and tubing vacuum pressure swing Alabsorption (VPSA) and pressure swing absorption (PSA) oxygen plants, cryogenic oxygen air separation units (ASUs) producing liquid/ gaseous oxygen. Oxygen canister, oxygen filling systems, oxygen storage tanks, oxygen cylinders, including cryogenic cylinders and tanks besides any other device from which oxygen can be generated are among several other items under this category.

Govt says the decisions will boost availability of these items as well as make them cheaper. The PM directed the revenue department to ensure seamless and quick custom clearance of such equipment.