India exempts oxygen, vaccines from basic customs duty

The Union government on Saturday decided to grant full exemption from Basic Customs Duty and health cess on import of oxygen and oxygen related equipment for three months.

Items exempted from basic customs duty and health cess are medical grade oxygen, oxygen concentrator along with flow meter, regulator, connectors and tubing, Vacuum Pressure Swing Absorption (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, Oxygen Generators, ISO Containers for Shipping Oxygen, Cryogenic Road transport tanks for Oxygen.

The government also exempted basic customs duty on import of COVID-19 vaccines with immediate effect for a period of three months.

The decision came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting to review steps taken to boost oxygen availability in the country.

He 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.

The prime minister stressed that all ministries and departments need to work in synergy to increase availability of oxygen and medical supplies.

The prime minister was briefed that basic customs duty was exempted on Remdesivir and its API recently.

It was suggested that import of equipment related to providing oxygen to patients needs to be expedited.