India, July 1 -- The government on Tuesday extended nil customs duty on import of critical petrochemical products by 15 days till July 15 to ensure continuity of supply stability amid the West Asia crisis.

The full customs duty waiver on about 40 critical petrochemical products provided on April 2 was a "temporary and targeted relief", and was set to lapse on June 30. In a notification on Tuesday, the Finance Ministry extended the customs duty exemption to July 15. The import duty exemption was intended to benefit sectors dependent on petrochemical feedstock and intermediates, such as plastics, packaging, textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, automotive components and other manufacturing segments.

On April 2, the Finance Ministry had sa...