MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI S.S. PALANIMANICKAM)
(a) : Yes, Sir. Government has withdrawn the excise duty exemption which was hitherto available to mediaments including those used in Ayurvedic, Unani,
Siddha, Homeopathic or bio-chemic systems and has imposed a nominal excise duty of 1%.
(b) : This has been done in line with the policy of the Government to widen tax base for both goods and services with a view to signal movement towards
Goods and Services Tax. While doing so, it has been ensured that exemption from excise duty was withdrawn only on those goods that are currently chargeable
to VAT and are in the nature of finished goods.
(c) : A Representation has been received from Ayurvedic Drug Manufacturers Association seeking withdrawal of the excise duty levy on the ground that
the levy would adversely impact the manufacture of ayurvedic medicines.
(d) : The excise duty imposed on medicaments is nominal at 1% as against the standard rate of 10% and small scale excise duty exemption for annual
clearances upto Rs. 1.5 crore is also available
(e): A separate department, that is, department of AYUSH, has been carved out in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the department has
implemented various schemes alongwith centrally sponsored schemes for standardization of quality control, to strengthen drug testing laboratories,
pharmacies, development of voluntary certification scheme for quality assurance in AYUSH products and accreditation programme for Ayush hospitals and Ayush
educational institutions etc.
