Government Waives Past Customs Duty Liability on Nuclear Power Generation Imports

The Government has clarified that imports of goods used for generating nuclear power (classified under tariff item 8401 30 00) should not be required to pay customs duty for a past period because there was a common and accepted practice of not charging such duty.

Earlier, through Notification No. 45/2025-Customs dated 24 October 2025 (later amended on 1 February 2026), the Government had granted a customs duty exemption for these nuclear power generation goods. The Government observed that even before this exemption was formally introduced, these goods were generally being imported without payment of customs duty.

Since this practice of non-levy of customs duty was widely followed, the Central Government has used its powers under Section 28A of the Customs Act, 1962 to regularize the situation. It has directed that any customs duty that may otherwise have been payable on these goods imported between 1 April 2019 and 31 January 2026 will not be required to be paid.

As a result, importers who brought these specified nuclear power generation goods into India during the period from 1 April 2019 to 31 January 2026 will not be asked to pay customs duty for those imports.