Flexible, plain imported into India falls under tariff item 3920 63 20. The standard rate of basic customs duty in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 is 20%, and integrated tax is 18%. On the export side the same code earns RoDTEP at 1.3% 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 |
|---|---|
| 39 | Chapter 39: Plastics and articles thereof |
| 3920 | Heading 3920: Other plates, sheets, film, foil and strip, of plastics, non-cellular and not reinforced, laminated |
| 3920 63 | Sub-heading 3920 63: Of unsaturated polyesters |
| 3920 63 20 | Flexible, plain. Unit: kg.. Import policy: Free |
Heading 3920 holds 104 tariff items in this dataset and every one of them carries the same standard rate of 20%, so within this heading the choice of eight digit line does not change the duty.
Put your own assessable value in and the whole stack re-works on this line's own rates: basic customs duty at 20%, the Social Welfare Surcharge charged on that duty rather than on the value, and integrated tax at 18% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 20% | Basic customs duty, of the assessable value | ₹2,00,000 |
| 10% | Social Welfare Surcharge, of the basic customs duty | ₹20,000 |
| 18% | IGST, of value plus the duties above | ₹2,19,600 |
| 43.96% | Total duty and tax, as a share of the assessable value | ₹4,39,600 |
The same eight digit code decides what an exporter earns. Appendix 4R to the Handbook of Procedures gives tariff item 3920 63 20 a RoDTEP rate of 1.3% 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 0.8%. 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.
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 ₹4,39,600 to ₹1,80,000.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3920 10 11 | Rigid, plain | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 10 12 | Flexible, plain | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 10 13 | Geomembrane, confirming to IS | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 10 19 | Other | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 10 91 | Rigid, plain | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 10 92 | Flexible, plain | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 10 99 | Other | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 20 10 | Rigid, plain | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 20 20 | Flexible, plain | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 20 90 | Other | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 30 10 | Rigid, plain | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 30 20 | Flexible, plain | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 30 90 | Other | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 43 00 | Containing by weight not less than 6% of plasticizers | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 49 00 | Other | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 51 11 | Rigid, plain | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 51 12 | Flexible, plain | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 51 19 | Other | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 51 91 | Rigid, plain | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 51 92 | Flexible, plain | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 51 99 | Other | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 59 11 | Rigid, plain | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 59 12 | Flexible, plain | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
| 3920 59 19 | Other | 20% | 18% | 1.3% |
Bring in ₹10,00,000 of flexible, plain and customs will ask for ₹4,39,600, which is 43.96% 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 ₹4,39,600 above, exactly ₹2,00,000 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 ₹2,39,600 is paid in cash.
A scrip bought below face value therefore saves that discount on ₹2,00,000, not on ₹4,39,600. 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 "10%". Integrated tax is carried under CBIC notification 045/2025. 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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