New Delhi:
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced to reduce custom duty on foreign motorcycles in the general budget 2025 (Union Budget 2025) presented on Saturday. Under this, the import duty on the unit of motorcycles with 1600 cc engine capacity has been reduced from 50% to 40%. The new rate of import duty will be applicable to all high capiciti bikes coming from abroad. With this, other foreign bikes including Harley Davidson will be cheaper in India. The move is being seen as a sign of business cooperation with the Trump administration in the US. Let me tell you, US President Donald Trump had demanded to reduce custom duty on these bikes.
According to Budget 2025-26, the import duty on the semi-ranked down (SKD) kit has been reduced from 25% to 20%. Completely knocked down (CKD) units will levy 10% tax. This was 15% earlier. Custom duty on CBU has been reduced from 50% to 30%. After Trump’s demand, India is planning to cut custom duty on around 7-8 high-end products. It includes special steel, high-end motorcycles and electronic items.
In fact, Harley Davidson motorcycles have been pronounced at the high tariff rate for a long time. During his first term as an US President, Trump said that 50% import duty on Harley Davidson is not acceptable. However, Trump also admitted that his friend Prime Minister Modi has reduced this import duty from 100% to 50% after the conversation. Now in the budget, the government has cut import duty by 10%. Let me tell you, Harley Davidson offers 10 new models in India.
Which bike can be cheap?
-Harley Davidson
-Kawasaki Ninja 650
-Honda CBR650R
-Cawasaki Ninja 1000SX
-Aprilia Rs660
-Afrika Twin
-Gold Wing
-Yamha YZF R1
-Amaha MT 09
Understand the meaning of ckd and skd
CKD means Completely knocked down unit. This means a product that is imported in different parts. Then it is assembled in India. The CKD unit is made abroad, but it provides employment to the local. On the other hand, SKD means semi -knocked down means a product in which the final assembly of the partially assembled product is done in the country to import.
Apart from these two, there is another term CBU. That is, Complete Built-up Unit. These products are like readymade items. CBU is usually seen in those bikes which are not produced in India. Such a bike is sent to a box with all its belongings.