Amid the shortage of oxygen in the country, thegovernment has decided to waive off basic customs duty and health cess on theimport of covid vaccines, oxygen, and oxygen-related equipment for threemonths. The decision was taken on Saturday afternoon, April 24 in a high-levelmeeting held to discuss the coronavirus pandemic which was chaired by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Modi urged that thereis a need to increase the supply of medical-grade oxygen and other relatedequipment that is required to fight the pandemic. He also asked the stategovernments and all ministries and departments to work in coordination toincrease the supply of required medical facilities.
The Revenue Department will ensure seamless and quickcustoms clearance of such equipment as per the directions by the PrimeMinister. The Basic Customs Duty on the import of Covid vaccines will also beexempted with immediate effect.
Prime Minister also said that recently basic customs dutywas spared on Remdesivir and its API. The import of equipment related toproviding oxygen to patients also needs to be accelerated.
The official statement said, “In order to augment theirproduction and availability and to meet the rising demand, it was decided togrant full exemption from Basic Customs Duty and health cess on import of thefollowing items related to Oxygen and Oxygen related equipment for a period ofthree months with immediate effect.”
The second wave of the coronavirus is devastating thecountry. The Health system is crashing due to the shortage of oxygen supply,vaccines, beds, and ventilators. The supply of medical facilities needed to beaccelerated to save innumerable lives.