Interim budget 2014: 10 items that will get cheaper

Ahead of the upcoming general elections, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today sought to lighten the burden on the middle class by lowering excise duty on cars, SUVs and two-wheelers and proposed lower tax on some other products.

Following is a list of what will be cheaper:

• Small cars, scooters, motorcycles: Excise duty on small cars, motorcycles, and scooters has been cut to 8 per cent from 12 per cent earlier.
• Sports utility vehicles (SUVs): The sports utility vehicles will attract 24 per cent excise duty, down from 30 per cent earlier.
• Large cars: These cars that used to attract excise duty of 27 per cent will now be levied only 24 per cent.
• Mid-sized cars: The excise duty on mid-sized cars will be 20 per cent from 24 per cent earlier
• Commercial vehicles: Excise duty on commercial vehicles has been cut to 8 per cent from 12 per cent.
• Consumer durables: The excise duty on consumer durables has been cut from 12 per cent to 10 per cent.
• Mobile phones made in India: Mobile phones manufactured in India could also see price moderation with the Finance Minister announcing a proposal to boost domestic manufacturing.
• Soaps: The finance minister rationalised customs duty structure on non-edible grade industrial oil and its fractions, fatty acids and fatty alcohols.
• Rice: It can also be expected to be cheaper with the finance minister exempting service tax on loading, unloading, packing, storage and warehousing of the commodity.
• Charges of cord blood banks: People looking to store umbilical cord blood for future use can now be expected incur lower expenses with the service tax of 12 per cent on cord blood banks being withdrawn.