The CBIC has issued Notification No. 45/2025–Customs dated October 24, 2025, marking a major reform in India’s customs exemption framework. Exercising powers under the Customs Act, 1962 and the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, the Central Government has superseded and consolidated more than 30 earlier Customs notifications, some dating back to 1957, into one comprehensive notification.
The new notification rationalises and harmonises existing customs duty exemptions across various sectors — including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, metals, fertilizers, electronic components, and gemstones — to make them clearer, simpler, and more transparent.
Effective November 1, 2025, the measure:
- Consolidates a wide range of legacy notifications such as 50/2017-Customs, 32/2019-Customs, and others into a single unified structure.
- Streamlines exemption tables (I to IV) covering goods from agricultural products and medical supplies to renewable energy inputs and precious metals.
- Provides conditional exemptions on customs duties, Integrated GST, and compensation cess where applicable, subject to detailed annexed conditions.
- Aligns exemptions with current industrial priorities, export promotion needs, and supply-chain simplification efforts under Ease of Doing Business and Make in India initiatives.
This reform continues the Government’s commitment to tax simplification and transparency, ensuring that importers, exporters, and manufacturers benefit from a single, consolidated framework that replaces overlapping and outdated exemptions.
This notification shall come into force from November 01, 2025.
The Complete Notification can be accessed at: https://a2ztaxcorp.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/CBIC-NNo.-45-2025-–Customs.pdf
