Centre exempts life-saving drug for infant from custom duty

Bringing great relief to the people who depend upon life-saving drugs for the treatment of infants, the central government has waived customs duty of Rs 6 crore on a life-saving gene replacement therapy for a five-month-old Mumbai girl suffering from a rare disease.

The child, Teera Kamat, was diagnosed with a neuromuscular disease—spinal muscular atropy Type 1--that causes weakness and wasting of muscles. Her parents, Priyanka and Mihir Kamat, started a crowd-funding effort in November 2020 and raised Rs 16 crore for the one-time gene replacement therapy called Zolgensma that offers a “cure”.

On Tuesday, Devendra Fadnavis wrote to PM Narendra Modi for the “quick action” of exempting customs duty for importing the drug, Zolgensma. “The girl’s parents have already raised Rs 16 crore toward the cost of the drug. Now, as you have waived customs duties (around Rs 6 crore), this will be a great relief for the parents and pave the way for saving her life,” he wrote.