Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget on Saturday focussed on the need of ease of doing business and highlighted the government's policy of 'Mimimum government and maximum governance'.
Reducing the number of levies, Jaitley subsumed the Education Cess and Secondary & Higher Education Cess leviable on excisable goods in Basic Excise duty. Consequently, he exempted the Education Cess and Secondary and Higher Education Cess leviable on excisable goods. The standard rate of Basic Excise Duty is being increased from 12% to 12.5% and specific rates of Basic Excise Duty on petrol, diesel, cement, cigarettes and other tobacco products (other than biris) are being suitably changed. However, the total incidence of various duties of excise on petrol and diesel remains unchanged.
He also said that certainty and uniformity in valuation of the goods for the purposes of levy of excise duty should be maintained.
The entry "waters, including mineral waters and aerated waters, containing added sugar or other sweetening matter or flavoured" in the Seventh Schedule to the Finance Act, 2005 related to levy of additional duty of excise @ 5% is being omitted. Till the enactment of the Finance Bill, 2015, the said additional duty of excise of 5% leviable on such goods is being exempted.
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