Small, bleached, half bleached or bleachable imported into India falls under tariff item 0908 31 40. The standard rate of basic customs duty in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 is 70%, and integrated tax is 5%. On the export side the same code earns RoDTEP at 1% of FOB value under Appendix 4R. Below is the whole bill worked at an assessable value of ₹10,00,000, with the base each levy is charged on.
| Level | Description |
|---|---|
| 09 | Chapter 09: Coffee, tea, mate and spices |
| 0908 | Heading 0908: Nutmeg, mace and cardamoms |
| 0908 31 | Sub-heading 0908 31: Neither crushed nor ground |
| 0908 31 40 | Small, bleached, half bleached or bleachable. Unit: kg.. Import policy: Free |
Heading 0908 holds 15 tariff items in this dataset and their standard rates run from 30% to 70%, so on this heading the eight digit line a consignment is classified under decides what it costs. This line sits at 70%.
Put your own assessable value in and the whole stack re-works on this line's own rates: basic customs duty at 70%, the Social Welfare Surcharge charged on that duty rather than on the value, and integrated tax at 5% on the value plus both. Assessable value is cost, insurance and freight plus landing charges where they apply, not the invoice value on its own.
| Rate | Levy | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 70% | Basic customs duty, of the assessable value | ₹7,00,000 |
| 10% | Social Welfare Surcharge, of the basic customs duty | ₹70,000 |
| 5% | IGST, of value plus the duties above | ₹88,500 |
| 85.85% | Total duty and tax, as a share of the assessable value | ₹8,58,500 |
The same eight digit code decides what an exporter earns. Appendix 4R to the Handbook of Procedures gives tariff item 0908 31 40 a RoDTEP rate of 1% of FOB value, notified by Notification 32/2024-25 and in force from 10 October 2024. Appendix 4R is the schedule for exports from the Domestic Tariff Area.
Notification 74/2025-26 ran the scheme to 30 September 2026, which has passed, so check DGFT for a continuation notification before relying on the figure above. Rates come from Appendix 4R and Appendix 4RE as DGFT publishes them. Work the entitlement on your own FOB value and quantity.
Where a trade agreement covers this line, the preferential rate replaces the basic customs duty rate, and it pulls the surcharge and the integrated tax down with it. At 0% for Nepal, the whole bill on ₹10,00,000 falls from ₹8,58,500 to ₹50,000.
A preference is never automatic. It applies against a valid certificate of origin, and the Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade Agreements) Rules, 2020 put the burden of proving origin on the importer. These are the 2025 schedule.
| Code | Description | Duty | IGST | Export rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0908 11 10 | In shell | 30% | 5% | 1% |
| 0908 11 20 | Shelled | 30% | 5% | 1% |
| 0908 12 00 | Crushed or ground | 30% | 5% | 1% |
| 0908 21 00 | Neither crushed nor ground | 30% | 5% | 1% |
| 0908 22 00 | Crushed or ground | 30% | 5% | 1% |
| 0908 31 10 | Large (amonum) | 70% | 5% | 1% |
| 0908 31 20 | Small (ellettaria), alleppey green | 70% | 5% | 1% |
| 0908 31 30 | Small, coorge green | 70% | 5% | 1% |
| 0908 31 50 | Small, mixed | 70% | 5% | 1% |
| 0908 31 90 | Other | 70% | 5% | 1% |
| 0908 32 10 | Powder | 70% | 5% | 1% |
| 0908 32 20 | Small cardamom seeds | 70% | 5% | 1% |
| 0908 32 30 | Cardamom husk | 70% | 5% | 1% |
| 0908 32 90 | Other | 70% | 5% | 1% |
Bring in ₹10,00,000 of small, bleached, half bleached or bleachable and customs will ask for ₹8,58,500, which is 85.85% of what the consignment is assessed at. That is not one charge. It is four, and each is charged on a base that includes the ones before it.
Of the ₹8,58,500 above, exactly ₹7,00,000 can be paid with a RoDTEP or RoSCTL duty-credit scrip instead of cash, because Regulation 6(1) of the Electronic Duty Credit Ledger Regulations, 2021 confines the credit in an e-scrip to duties of customs specified in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. The remaining ₹1,58,500 is paid in cash.
A scrip bought below face value therefore saves that discount on ₹7,00,000, not on ₹8,58,500. How the buy side works, or read what a duty-credit scrip is end to end.
The First Schedule states the duty on this line as "70%". Integrated tax is carried under CBIC notification 009/2025. How the figures in this chapter are checked, and when they were last checked is in the meta line at the top of this page.
This is the tariff arithmetic on a published rate, not an assessment. Goods are assessed by the proper officer under section 17 of the Customs Act, 1962, and valuation, exemption notifications, anti-dumping and safeguard duties can all change what is finally payable. A wrong tariff line makes every number on this page wrong together, so this is not classification advice.
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