Customs duty should be brought down to 2.5%

Aviation Industry has been waiting for reduction of waiver of Customs duty since 2008. Since the current Government is Pro-active in rationalising the Finance sector, we hope that they would give this relief to the Sector in 2017 budget.

The Business Aviation in India has been adversely affected due to Customs Duty which came into effect in 2007 budget. Initially the customs duty was applied only on Private aircraft and charter operators were given a relief. In 2008/09 the duty was imposed on Charter category as well, thus affecting the industry further. Objective of the Government to collect huge revenues from aircraft buyers wasn’t fulfilled because the Buyers including large corporates took a short cut and imported aircraft on Charter licenses, which was not difficult to obtain. To penalize such Operators the Government initiated Customs and DRI raids. This created a flutter in the market but once again the objective wasn’t fulfilled as most of the Operators went to courts. The final decision by the Supreme court is still pending.

We recommend that In order to stimulate the growth of Business Aviation in India, the customs duty is brought down to 2.5% for both; Private as well as Charter operators. Let the Importer decide whether it would like to operate the aircraft as Private or Charter. The Indian Business Aviation Industry has been waiting for reduction of waiver of Customs duty since 2008. Since the current Government is Pro-active in rationalising the Finance sector, we hope that they would give this relief to the Sector in 2017 budget.

News Source: www.indiainfoline.com