Finance minister proposes reduced custom duty of 5% on newsprint

The Indian Newspaper Society had earlier urged the government of India to scrap the 10% duty imposed on newsprint and uncoated paper used for printing newspapers, and lightweight coated papers for magazines.

While presenting the Union Budget for 2020-21 on 1 February, Sitharaman said, “In the previous budget, basic custom duty of 10% was imposed on the newsprint and lightweight coated paper. However, since then I have received several references that this levy has put additional burden on print media at a time when it is going through a difficult phase. I, therefore, propose to reduce basic customs duty on imports of newsprint and lightweight coated paper from 10% to 5%.”