FM Nirmala Sitharaman: Next Up - Major Customs Overhaul After Ending ‘Tax Terrorism’ | HTLS 2025

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman just signalled a major shift for India’s trade policy, saying the government’s next target is a full-blown overhaul of the customs regime. Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2025, she referred to the past “tax terrorism” of income tax, promising the same “faceless, simplified” approach will now be extended to customs. Sitharaman said the customs cleanup aims to reduce red tape, curb discretionary interference, and smooth out import/export procedures — a move meant to help exporters, boost manufacturing, and make India more business-friendly ahead of Budget 2026. Mint is an Indian financial daily newspaper published by HT Media. The Mint YT Channel brings you cutting edge analysis of the latest business news and financial news. With in-depth market coverage, explainers and expert opinions, we break down and simplify business news for you. Click here to download the Mint App: https://livemint.onelink.me/MrDS/p0kx3pdg Now make Mint your preferred source on Google and get business & finance updates first. Add here - https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=mint Subscribe to Mint Premium Now: https://www.read.ht/Scaq Subscribe to Mint's WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va91YSeGehEM6oMesj3d