Chennai:To curb ever-increasing healthcare costs, customs duties on some of the most expensive life-saving medicines and medical equipment parts have been reduced. The Budget proposal also removes the 10% customs duty on three widely used anti-cancer drugs and reduces customs duties on X-ray tubes.
The Budget removed the 10 percent basic customs duty on trastuzumab deruxtecan, osimertinib and durvalumab. Deruxtecan is a breast cancer treatment that can be used for all cancers with HER2-positive genes. Around 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in India.
Osimertinib and durvalumab are used to treat lung cancer. In India, durvalumab is also used for biliary tract cancer. Reports suggest that over 1.4 million new cases of cancer are reported every year in India. India also has a high cancer mortality rate of 919,000.
Basic customs duty on X-ray tubes and flat panel detectors, including scintillators, used in the manufacture of medical, surgical, dental and veterinary X-ray equipment will be reduced from 15% to 5% until March 31, 2025, and will be 7.5% from April 1, 2025.
India's medical device import bill has consistently exceeded Rs 6 trillion for the past three years, despite efforts by domestic manufacturers to reduce dependency on imports.
In addition, all types of polyethylene used in the manufacture of orthopedic implants have been exempted from customs duties. Different tax rates were applicable to these items. Special grades of stainless steel, titanium alloys, cobalt chrome alloys, and all types of polyethylene used in the manufacture of other artificial parts of the body are also now exempt from customs duties.