Crop protection industry seeks tax cuts, R&D incentives in Budget

New Delhi, Jan 24 (PTI) CropLife India on Friday urged the government to reduce goods and services tax (GST) on agrochemicals to 12 per cent and maintain a uniform 10 per cent basic customs duty for technical raw materials and formulations in its upcoming Budget proposal.

The industry body also demanded a 200 per cent weighted deduction on research and development (R&D) expenses for agrochemical companies and requested fund allocation to strengthen agricultural extension 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.

Key demands include: lowering GST from 18 per cent to 12 per cent, maintaining uniform 10 per cent customs duty for both technical raw material and formulations, providing a 200 per cent 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.

The industry body warned that increasing customs duty to 30 per cent would make crop protection products less affordable for smallholder farmers and restrict access to newer, greener formulations critical for addressing pest resistance and climate change challenges.