Budget 2025 Expectations: Tax Cuts, R&D Incentives Sought By This Industry - See Details

CropLife India urged the government to reduce goods and services tax (GST) on agrochemicals to 12% and maintain a uniform 10% basic customs duty for technical raw materials as well as formulations in its upcoming Budget proposal.

It demanded a 200% weighted deduction on research and development (R&D) expenses for agrochemical companies and requested an allocation of funds to strengthen mechanisms.

"We request the government to create an ecosystem around a science-based, progressive, and predictive regulatory framework that will allow the sector to become globally competitive," the industry body said in a statement.

The industry body's key demands include lowering GST from 18% to 12%, maintaining a uniform 10% customs duty for technical raw material and formulations, providing a 200% R&D expense deduction and extending R&D benefits to units with a minimum Rs 50 crore fixed assets and Rs 10 crore annual R&D spending.

According to CropLife India, increasing customs duty to 30% would make crop protection products less affordable for smallholder farmers and restrict access to newer and greener formulations that are critical for addressing pest resistance and climate change challenges.