Budget 2023: What just got cheaper and expensive; check FM's tech announcements

tech.hindustantimes.com:

It is the fifth consecutive year Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has presented the annual budget in Lok Sabha. The Budget 2023 is very important as it is the last full budget of the current government before next year's parliamentary elections. As the world deals with the economic downturn, which has seen multiple tech companies resorting to mass layoffs, this year's budget was sure to be aligned on pragmatic lines. However, like each year, some things have become more expensive while others have become cheaper. But how did that impact your gadgets such as smartphones? Find out.

Finance Minister Sitharaman announced that the custom duty on the import of certain smartphone parts such as camera lenses, lithium-ion batteries will be lowered. This was done in light of India's mobile manufacturing unit from 5.8 crore units in 2014 to more than 31 crore units in 2022.

Camera lenses will get a 2.5 percent concession on custom duty and lithium-ion batteries will continue to get the concessional duties for another year. This can result in cheaper smartphones in the coming year as cost of production goes down.

Additionally, smart televisions are also likely to get cheaper as the finance minister announced in her speech that customs duty on parts of open cells of TV panels will also be brought down to 2.5 percent.

The lowered custom duty on lithium-ion batteries can also result in cheaper prices for some laptops.

Luckily, no additional taxes on personal gadgets were announced during the budget session, which means smartphones, laptops, smartwatches and other tech products are not likely to get more expensive this year.

Another interesting benefit is that the government has also proposed to set up a national digital library for