GST rate cuts to make 100 essential items cheaper

• Health products and life insurance to be tax-free

• Big relief to the common people from the Union Government

• Tax slashed directly from 18% to just 5%

(GST stands for Goods and Services Tax)

New Delhi – The Union Government has given major relief to the common public by reducing Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates. In the 56th GST Council meeting held on September 3rd, several key decisions were taken. Due to GST cuts, around 100 essential commodities will now become cheaper. Taxes have been brought down straight from 18% to 5%.

The purpose of these changes is to provide relief to ordinary citizens, support small businesses, and discourage harmful consumption by raising taxes on products like tobacco. Accordingly, the government has increased taxes on luxury items such as tobacco, caffeinated beverages, casinos, cricket match tickets, and medium/large four-wheelers with engine capacity above 350 cc. These new reforms will come into effect from September 22nd, the first day of Navratri.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while briefing the media, said that milk, wheat, pizza, bread, and many other food products will be GST-free. No tax will be levied on health products and life insurance. In addition, 33 life-saving medicines, drugs for rare diseases, and critical treatments will also be exempted from GST.

Items that will become cheaper

Dry fruits, branded namkeens, tooth powder, toothpaste, soap, hair oil, common antibiotics, painkillers, processed food, snacks, frozen vegetables, condensed milk, certain mobile phones, some computers, sewing machines, pressure cookers, and geysers will all get cheaper. The tax rate on these items will come down from 12% to 5%.

Similarly, non-electric water filters, electric irons, vacuum cleaners, ready-made garments priced above ₹1,000, footwear in the ₹500–₹1,000 range, several vaccines, HIV and TB diagnostic kits, bicycles, and utensils will also attract reduced GST.

Products such as geometry boxes, maps, globes, glazed tiles, prefabricated buildings, vending machines, public transport vehicles, agricultural machinery, and solar water heaters, which earlier attracted 12% GST, will now be taxed at just 5%.

“These reforms will improve the lives of citizens” – Prime Minister

Reacting to the GST rate cuts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote in a post on X that, in his Independence Day address, he had already announced the government’s intention to further reform GST. The Union Government had prepared a detailed proposal to rationalize GST rates and simplify processes. Its aim, he said, is to make the lives of ordinary citizens easier and to strengthen the nation’s economy.