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