Page 25 - Policy Economic Report - April 2026

POLICY AND ECONOMIC REPORT
OIL & GAS MARKET

the West Asia conflict. However, overall petroleum consumption moderated, primarily due to a sharp
decline in aviation turbine fuel demand following widespread flight suspensions. This divergence
highlights the uneven impact of geopolitical developments across consumption categories.

Digital payments continued to expand robustly in both transaction value and volume, indicating ongoing
formalization and strength in underlying consumption activity. In contrast, electricity demand remained
moderate during the month, largely due to above-normal rainfall in the first 25 days of March, which
reduced cooling requirements and dampened seasonal demand.

Overall, while domestic demand conditions remain broadly resilient, the mixed trends across indicators
suggest the beginning of differentiated impacts across sectors, influenced by both global disruptions and
domestic factors.

Economic Activity Showed Mixed Performance in March

Source – RBI

6. Government notifies Conditional Concessional Customs Duty for SEZ to Domestic Tariff
Area sales to boost manufacturing capacity

In line with the Budget announcement 2026, conditional customs duty concessions have been notified on
clearance of goods manufactured in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to the Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) to
improve capacity utilization of manufacturing units impacted by global trade disruptions. The measure is
expected to benefit approximately 1,200 SEZ manufacturing units by enabling economies of scale,
reducing costs and enhancing resilience, while preserving the export-oriented nature of SEZs.

The measure allows eligible SEZ manufacturing units to clear goods to the DTA at concessional duty rates,
subject to a limit of 30 per cent of the highest annual Free on-Board export value achieved in any of the
three immediately preceding financial years. Export benefits such as duty drawback on inputs are not
permitted for such clearances to prevent double benefits.

The notification prescribes key eligibility conditions, including a minimum 20 per cent value addition
within the SEZ, calculated using a defined formula based on assessable value and input costs.

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