The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has issued Notification No. 35/2025-Customs August 18, 2025, providing a temporary exemption from customs duty and Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) on cotton imports.
The notification, issued under Section 25(1) of the Customs Act, 1962, and Section 124 of the Finance Act, 2021, exempts cotton (falling under heading 5201 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975) from the entire customs duty and AIDC when imported into India.
The exemption will be effective from August 19, 2025, until September 30, 2025.
This move comes as part of the government’s efforts to ease supply concerns and stabilize domestic cotton prices in the public interest.
In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962) read with section 124 of the Finance Act, 2021 (13 of 2021), the Central Government, on being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts the goods of the description specified in column (3) of the Table below, falling under the heading of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Customs Tariff Act’), specified in the corresponding entry in column (2) of the said Table, when imported into India, from the whole of the duty of customs leviable thereon under the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act and from the whole of the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess leviable thereon under the said section of the Finance Act, 2021 (13 of 2021), namely: –
TABLE
| Sl. No. | Heading | Description of goods |
| 1. | 5201 | Cotton |
This notification shall come into force with effect from the 19th day of August, 2025, and shall remain in force up to and inclusive of the 30th day of September, 2025.
The Notification can be accessed at: https://a2ztaxcorp.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/CBIC-No.-35_2025-Customs.pdf
