Eligible manufacturer-importers to get duty deferment facility from March

New Delhi: The revenue department will roll out the 30-day duty deferral facility for eligible manufacturer-importers from next month, which will help such importers to better manage their liquidity, a senior official said on Thursday.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget for 2026-27 had proposed to provide eligible manufacturer-importers the same duty deferral facility as is available to Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs).

This was done to encourage such importers to get themselves accredited as a full-fledged Tier 3- AEO in due course.


The Budget had also enhanced the duty deferral period for Tier 2 and Tier 3 AEOs from 15 days to 30 days.

Speaking at the National Symposium on Customs Reforms-2026, Revenue Department Joint Secretary (Customs) Anupam Prakash said presently there are about 6,000 entities which operate under the Customs "trusted ecosystem", of which 1,500 entities have AEO T2 and T3 accreditation.

"We want to increase the number of entities in trusted scenarios. For the eligible manufacturer importers, the process will start from next month. They will be getting the same duty deferment feature and the capital available with these importers will improve, and they can contribute to manufacturing and export," Prakash said.

He also said that the Customs department is also discussing with other government departments on how this trusted ecosystem could be further enhanced.

This would mean that from next month, eligible manufacturer-importers can clear the goods on the day of import and will have the option to pay customs duty within 30 days.