Covid: Centre exempts customs duty on vaccines, oxygen for 3 months

Centre also decided to waive health cess on the import of oxygen and connected equipment for a period of three months with immediate effect

Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, the union government decided to grant full exemption from basic customs duty and health cess on import of oxygen-related equipment for a period of three months with immediate effect.

"The decisions were taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," said the government on Saturday.

The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Principal Secretary to the PM, and other senior officials.

He was told that basic customs duty was exempted on Remdesivir and its API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) recently, and a suggestion was made