Excise sops extended

The government extended excise duty cuts by six months in an effort to provide relief for the beleaguered automobile, consumer durables and capital goods sectors and revive demand in the economy , which is battling a slowdown.
The extension of duty relief up to December is likely to ensure that prices of cars, two-wheelers, mobile phones and other consumer durables are maintained at the current levels and may help trigger demand. The NDA government has vowed to revive growth and boost confidence after it swept to power on the promise of rescuing the economy .
The previous UPA government had decided to provide the relief for these sectors in the vote-on-account in February to spur demand and boost consumer confidence. The move had resulted in immediate price cuts.
The duty relief provided by the UPA would have lapsed on June 30 but the Narendra Modi government has moved swiftly to ensure that there is no uncertainty for consumers and manufacturers ahead of the July 10 Union Budget.
Excise duty on small cars, commercial vehicles, motorcycles and scooters had come down from 12% to 8%, while for larger SUVs, the duty was slashed by 6% to bring it down to 24%. Large cars, which used to attract 27% excise, had seen duty cut to 24%, while the duty on mid-sized cars had come down to 20% from 24% earlier.
Excise duty on capital goods and consumer durables will continue to attract a lower duty of 10% as against the pre-Budget rate of 12%.