GST New Rates Today: Ringing in the festive cheer, Indian taxpayers are ready to welcome the new GST rates as they roll out today (September 22). From now on, many household items including cars, bikes, and TVs will become cheaper, bringing relief to the middle class. In fact, several food products like roti, parantha, paneer, and khakra have been moved to the zero-tax category.
The new system, announced earlier this month by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has simplified GST into just two main slabs: 5% and 18%. Most items have seen a cut in tax rates, but a few products will now cost more. For example, clothes priced above ₹2,500 will be taxed at 18% instead of the earlier 12%.
GST New Rates: What becomes cheaper from today? Full list here
- Mass consumption items like chena or paneer, pre-packaged and labeled, ketchup, jam, pizza bread, Khakhra, chapathi or roti, Ultra-High Temperature (UHT) milk will now fall into the 0% or nil GST category.
- Medicines that were earlier taxed at 12% will now fall into the 5% catgeory. In fact, 36 essential life-saving drugs for cancer, genetic disorders, rare diseases, and heart problems are now fully tax-free. These include drugs and medicines like Agalsidase Beta, Imiglucerase, Eptacog alfa activated recombinant coagulation factor VIIa, Onasemnogene abeparvovec, Asciminib, Mepolizumab, Pegylated Liposomal Irinotecan, Daratumumab, Daratumumab subcutaneous, Teclistamab, Amivantamab, Alectinib, Risdiplam, Obinutuzumab, Polatuzumab vedotin, Entrectinib, Atezolizumab, Spesolimab, Velaglucerase Alfa, Agalsidase Alfa, Rurioctocog Alfa Pegol, Idursulfase, Alglucosidase Alfa, Laronidase, Olipudase Alfa, Tepotinib, Avelumab, Emicizumab, Belumosudil, Miglustat, Velmanase Alfa, Alirocumab, Evolocumab, Cystamine Bitartrate, CI-Inhibitor injection, and Inclisiran.
- Items like pencil sharpners, erasers, uncoated paper, paperboard, graph book, exercise book, notebook will also fall into the 0% GST category. To add on to this, maps, wall maps, atlases, and globes will also cost nil GST.
Full list of items that fall under 5% GST from today:
A wide range of products will fall under the 5% GST category from today, making them more affordable for households, healthcare, and daily use. The government’s new tax reforms cover essential food items, personal care products, medicines, medical devices, packaged beverages, wooden articles, leather goods, and even some handicrafts. This move is expected to bring relief to the middle class, encourage consumption, and support small businesses. From kitchen staples to personal hygiene items, healthcare essentials to everyday household goods, the price cuts will touch almost every aspect of daily life.
- Condensed milk, ghee, butter, cheese, and dairy spreads
- Dry fruits and nuts such as almonds, pistachios, cashews, hazelnuts, and dates
- Dried fruits like figs, guava, mango (dried), citrus fruits, pineapples
- Starches, malt, and inulin
- Medical oxygen, iodine, anaesthetics, hydrogen peroxide (medical grade), sulphuric acid, nitric acid
- Medicines, including life-saving drugs and traditional systems (Ayurveda, Unani, Homeopathy)
- Diagnostic kits, reagents, surgical gloves, bandages, wadding, gauze
- Health and personal care items: talcum powder, hair oil, soaps, shampoos, toothpaste, shaving cream, aftershave lotion, dental floss
- Baby products: feeding bottles, nipples, plastic beads
- Candles, handcrafted candles
- Packaged food: cornflakes, pasta, noodles, biscuits, cakes, pastries, namkeen, bhujia, sauces, soups, jams, ice cream, chocolates, sugar confectionery
- Beverages: packaged coconut water, fruit juices, tea and coffee extracts, plant-based milk, soya milk drinks
- Seafood: preserved or processed fish, crustaceans, molluscs, caviar substitutes
- Animal fats, oils, margarine, lanolin, glycerol, waxes, and related products
- Wooden articles: furniture items, idols, handicrafts, kitchenware, bamboo flooring, decorative products
- Leather goods like handbags, purses, gloves, and leather boards
- Cork products and artware
- Handmade paper, cartons, corrugated boxes, biodegradable paper bags
- Rubber bands, bidi wrapper leaves, katha
- Rear tractor tyres and tubes
- Fitness and wellness: gym equipment, wellness centres, yoga services
- Items that fall under 18% GST from today
- Coal, briquettes, ovoids, and other solid fuels made from coal
Full list of items that fall under 18% GST
- Portland cement, aluminous cement, slag cement, super sulphate cement, and similar hydraulic cements (coloured or in clinkers form)
- Bidis
- Lignite (excluding jet)
- Peat (including peat litter)
- Menthol products (other than natural menthol), such as Menthol and menthol crystals, Peppermint oil (Mentha oil), Fractionated/ de-terpinated mentha oil (DTMO), De-mentholised oil (DMO), Spearmint oil, Mentha piperita oil, Odor preparations that work by burning (except agarbattis, lobhan, dhoop batti, dhoop, sambhrani)
- Biodiesel (except biodiesel supplied to Oil Marketing Companies for blending with high-speed diesel)
- New pneumatic rubber tyres (except: bicycle, cycle-rickshaw, three-wheeled powered cycle rickshaw tyres, rear tractor tyres, and aircraft tyres)
- Chemical wood pulp (dissolving grades)
- Uncoated paper and paperboard used for writing, printing, or graphic purposes (except paper for exercise books, graph books, lab notebooks, and notebooks)
- Uncoated kraft paper and paperboard (in rolls or sheets, except those under heading 4802/4803)
- Other uncoated paper and paperboard (in rolls or sheets, not further processed beyond limits in Note 3)
- Greaseproof paper and glassine paper
- Composite paper and paperboard (layers glued together, not coated or impregnated)
- Paper and paperboard coated with kaolin (China clay) or other inorganic substances, with/without a binder, in rolls or sheets
- Paper and paperboard (corrugated, creped, crinkled, embossed, or perforated)
- Apparel and clothing accessories (knitted or crocheted) with a sale value above ₹2500 per piece
- Apparel and clothing accessories (not knitted or crocheted) with a sale value above ₹2500 per piece
- Made-up textile articles and sets above ₹2500 per piece (excluding worn clothes, rags, and old articles)
- Spark-ignition reciprocating or rotary internal combustion piston engines (excluding aircraft engines)
- Compression-ignition (diesel/semi-diesel) internal combustion piston engines
- Engine parts suitable for use with the above engines
- Fuel dispensing pumps, lubricant pumps, or cooling medium pumps for internal combustion engines
- Air-conditioning machines with motor-driven fans and temperature/humidity control (even if humidity cannot be separately controlled)
- Dishwashing machines (household and others)
Meanwhile, Amul’s parent body, the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, has announced lower prices on more than 700 of its products. The move is aimed at passing on the benefit of the GST rate cut to customers. Items such as ghee, butter, ice cream, bakery goods, and frozen snacks will now cost less. The revised prices will come into effect from today, September 22.