Recognise supplements as part of overall wellness, rationalise custom duty on nutraceutical ingredients: Amway...

Key Highlights

• Elaborating on the company’s demands, he said, “We recommend formally recognising food and dietary supplements as an integral part of overall wellness, with the potential to improve health outcomes while unlocking significant economic value.” Chopra further said, “The budget should focus on simplifying customs duty structure by rationalising customs duty slabs on imported supplements, ingredients used in nutraceutical, beauty and personal care, and select consumer durables.” Such measures, he said would enhance India’s trade competitiveness, boost local manufacturing and exports aligning with the “Make in India” initiative.
• “This should be complemented by Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, targeted tax benefits, and export-linked incentives to support global expansion,” Chopra said.
• At present, the majority of Amway’s essential imports of health and nutraceutical supplements — both finished products and raw materials — fall within a customs duty bracket of around 50 per cent.
• Chopra noted that the Budget should also consider introducing lower income tax slabs for small businesses like direct sellers/distributors, sole proprietors, similar to the fiscal support extended to start-ups through deferred taxation to enable grassroots entrepreneurship.
• Such a step would enable millions, including women and those in smaller towns, to participate meaningfully in the formal economic growth and drive more inclusive development, he said.