HS Code 2106 90 60: Food flavouring material

Food flavouring material imported into India falls under tariff item 2106 90 60. The standard rate of basic customs duty in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 is 50%, and integrated tax is 5%. On the export side the same code earns RoDTEP at 0.9% 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.

Duty and tax on ₹10,00,0002106 90 6062.75% of value
Basic customs duty50% of the assessable value₹5,00,000
Social Welfare Surcharge10% of the basic customs duty₹50,000
IGST5% of value plus the duties above₹77,500
Payable with a duty-credit scripbasic customs duty only₹5,00,000
Payable in cashsurcharge, integrated tax and cess₹1,27,500
Total duty and tax on this Bill of Entry₹6,27,500
Worked at the standard First Schedule rate. No exemption notification is applied.Change the value

Where tariff item 2106 90 60 sits in the schedule

LevelDescription
21Chapter 21: Miscellaneous edible preparations
2106Heading 2106: Food preparations not elsewhere specified or included
2106 90Sub-heading 2106 90: Other
2106 90 60Food flavouring material. Unit: kg.. Import policy: Free

Heading 2106 holds 12 tariff items in this dataset and their standard rates run from 40% to 50%, so on this heading the eight digit line a consignment is classified under decides what it costs. This line sits at 50%.

Duty on an import of this item

Put your own assessable value in and the whole stack re-works on this line's own rates: basic customs duty at 50%, 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.

RateLevyAmount
50%Basic customs duty, of the assessable value₹5,00,000
10%Social Welfare Surcharge, of the basic customs duty₹50,000
5%IGST, of value plus the duties above₹77,500
62.75%Total duty and tax, as a share of the assessable value₹6,27,500
₹5,00,000Payable with a duty-credit scripOf this, the basic customs duty of ₹5,00,000 can be paid with duty credit scrips. The remaining ₹1,27,500 is paid in cash.

RoDTEP on this tariff line, the export side

The same eight digit code decides what an exporter earns. Appendix 4R to the Handbook of Procedures gives tariff item 2106 90 60 a RoDTEP rate of 0.9% 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.

An exporter under an Advance Authorisation, an Export Oriented Unit or a unit in a Special Economic Zone reads Appendix 4RE instead, which puts this line at 0.5%. Which schedule applies is a fact about the exporter, not about the goods, so this page does not choose between them.

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.

Preferential rates by origin

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 Least Developed Countries, the whole bill on ₹10,00,000 falls from ₹6,27,500 to ₹50,000.

Least Developed Countries0%
Nepal0%
SAFTA (LDC) countries0%
Sri Lanka0%
SAFTA countries5%
Mauritius110%

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.

Other tariff items under heading 2106

CodeDescriptionDutyIGSTExport rate
2106 10 00Protein concentrates and textured protein substances40%5%2%
2106 90 11Sharbat50%5%0.9%
2106 90 19Other50%5%0.9%
2106 90 20Pan masala50%28%n/a
2106 90 30Betel nut product known as "Supari"50%5%0.9%
2106 90 40Sugar-syrups containing added flavouring or colouring matter, not elsewhere specified or included; lactose syrup; glucose syrup and malto dextrine syrup50%5%0.9%
2106 90 70Churna for pan50%5%0.9%
2106 90 80Custard powder50%5%0.9%
2106 90 91Diabetic foods50%5%0.9%
2106 90 92Sterilized or pasteurized millstone50%5%0.9%
2106 90 99Other50%5%0.9%

What this means in plain English

Bring in ₹10,00,000 of food flavouring material and customs will ask for ₹6,27,500, which is 62.75% 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.

  • Basic customs duty, ₹5,00,000 at 50% of the assessable value.
  • Social Welfare Surcharge, ₹50,000 at 10% of that duty rather than of the value, under section 110 of the Finance Act, 2018.
  • Integrated tax, the large one: ₹77,500 at 5% on the value plus the duties above it, under section 3(8) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975. Carried under CBIC notification 009/2025, schedule I142.
Read the duty rate as a ceiling, not a bill. 50% is the standard rate in the First Schedule, before any exemption notification, and the total above carries no Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess, no duty stated per unit and no trade remedy duty. What is and is not inside these figures, written once for the whole chapter.

Paying part of this with a duty-credit scrip

Of the ₹6,27,500 above, exactly ₹5,00,000 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 ₹1,27,500 is paid in cash.

A scrip bought below face value therefore saves that discount on ₹5,00,000, not on ₹6,27,500. How the buy side works, or read what a duty-credit scrip is end to end.

Where these rates come from

The First Schedule states the duty on this line as "150%". 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.

Customs duty calculatorAll of chapter 21: Miscellaneous edible preparationsEvery chapter

For importers

Pay the basic customs duty line with a scrip, not cash.

Money locked before the scrip moves. Settlement the same business day.