Ophthalmic lasers imported into India falls under tariff item 9018 50 30. The standard rate of basic customs duty in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 is 7.5%, and integrated tax is 5%. On the export side the same code earns RoDTEP at 0.5% 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 |
|---|---|
| 90 | Chapter 90: Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision |
| 9018 | Heading 9018: Instruments and appliances used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences |
| 9018 50 | Sub-heading 9018 50: Other ophthalmic instruments and appliances |
| 9018 50 30 | Ophthalmic lasers. Unit: u. Import policy: Free |
Heading 9018 holds 48 tariff items in this dataset and their standard rates run from 5% to 10%, so on this heading the eight digit line a consignment is classified under decides what it costs. This line sits at 7.5%.
Put your own assessable value in and the whole stack re-works on this line's own rates: basic customs duty at 7.5%, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 7.5% | Basic customs duty, of the assessable value | ₹75,000 |
| 10% | Social Welfare Surcharge, of the basic customs duty | ₹7,500 |
| 5% | IGST, of value plus the duties above | ₹54,125 |
| 13.66% | Total duty and tax, as a share of the assessable value | ₹1,36,625 |
The same eight digit code decides what an exporter earns. Appendix 4R to the Handbook of Procedures gives tariff item 9018 50 30 a RoDTEP rate of 0.5% 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 0.3%. 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 ASEAN countries, the whole bill on ₹10,00,000 falls from ₹1,36,625 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9018 11 00 | Electro-cardiographs | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 12 10 | Linear ultrasound scanner | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 12 90 | Other | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 13 00 | Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 14 00 | Scientigraphic apparatus | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 19 10 | Electro encephalographs | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 19 20 | Echo cardiograph | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 19 90 | Other | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 20 00 | Ultra-violet or infra-red ray apparatus | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 31 00 | Syringes, with or without needles | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 32 10 | Needles for suture | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 32 20 | Hollow needles for injection, aspiration, biopsy and transfusion | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 32 30 | Hilerio venus fistula needles | 5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 32 90 | Other | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 39 10 | Catheters (for urine, stool) | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 39 20 | Cardiac catheters | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 39 30 | Cannulae | 7.5% | 5% | 0.9% |
| 9018 39 90 | Other sciences | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 41 00 | Dental drill engines, whether or not combined on a single base with other dental equipment | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 49 00 | Other | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 50 10 | Ophthalmoscopes | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 50 20 | Tonometers | 5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 50 90 | Other | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
| 9018 90 11 | Instrument and apparatus for measuring blood pressure | 7.5% | 5% | 0.5% |
Bring in ₹10,00,000 of ophthalmic lasers and customs will ask for ₹1,36,625, which is 13.66% 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 ₹1,36,625 above, exactly ₹75,000 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 ₹61,625 is paid in cash.
A scrip bought below face value therefore saves that discount on ₹75,000, not on ₹1,36,625. 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 "7.5%". Integrated tax is carried under CBIC notification 9/2025-IT(R). 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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