Only 1 liquor bottle at duty-free, cigarette cartons banned: Commerce Ministry recommends for Budget.

As India prepares for Budget 2020 on February 1, the Commerce Ministry has come up with some recommendations related duty-free products. It wants FM Nirmala Sitharaman to ban cigarette cartons and impose restriction on the number of liquor bottles bought at tax-free shops. The recommended number of alcohol bottles is one.

At present, it is allowed for inbound international passengers to buy one cigarette carton and two litres of alcohol.

The Commerce Ministry's recommendation for Budget 2020 comes as it wants to follow the rules by some countries that allow just one litre of alcohol for international passengers.

This suggestion assumes significance as the government is looking at various ways to curtail import of non-essential goods into the country to rein in trade deficit.

A duty-free shop is where an inbound international passenger can generally purchase goods worth about Rs 50,000 without paying any import duty.

The commerce ministry has also suggested increase in customs duty on several products like paper, footwear, rubber items and toys to promote 'Make in India' and boost manufacturing growth, sources said.

The ministry has proposed rationalisation of basic customs or import duty on over 300 items from different sectors, including furniture, chemicals, rubber, coated paper and paper boards.