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| Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Prices of kitchen staples to electronics, from medicines and equipment to automobiles, will get cheaper from Monday (September 22, 2025) as the reduced Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates on about 375 items come into effect.

In a bonanza to consumers, the GST Council, comprising Centre and States, has decided to reduce tax rates on goods and services, from September 22 — the first day of the Navaratri.

Mass consumption items like ghee, paneer, butter, ‘namkeen’, ketchup, jam, dry fruits, coffee and ice creams, and aspirational goods like TV, AC, washing machines will become cheaper.

-PTIRead the story here

Prices of kitchen staples to electronics, from medicines and equipment to automobiles, will get cheaper from Monday (September 22, 2025) as the reduced Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates on about 375 items come into effect.

In a bonanza to consumers, the GST Council, comprising Centre and States, has decided to reduce tax rates on goods and services, from September 22 — the first day of the Navaratri.

Mass consumption items like ghee, paneer, butter, ‘namkeen’, ketchup, jam, dry fruits, coffee and ice creams, and aspirational goods like TV, AC, washing machines will become cheaper.

-PTIRead the story here

Daily essentials and food products will be cheaper from Monday (September 22, 2025), as leading FMCG companies have slashed prices, extending GST cut benefits to consumers.

The move is expected to lead to a spike in consumption and a surge in sales during the upcoming festival season, which starts with the Navratra celebrations.

FMCG companies have extended benefits of GST 2.0 with immediate reduction on price without any disruption, along with some discounts for festivals as they expect to enter a new growth phase after facing a few challenging quarters that saw persistent food inflation and slow pace of urban consumption.

Companies operating in the space of FMCG products have issued revised price lists with new MRPs on their products, including soaps, shampoo, baby diapers, toothpaste, razors, and after-shave lotions, effective from Monday (September 22, 2025).

Besides, firms operating in the food verticals have also slashed prices on products as snacks as namkeen and bhujia to sweets, coffee, tea, butter, ghee, ice-cream, chocolates, etc.

The makers have dispatched products with revised MRP tags to inventories of distributors, warehouses of e-coms and shelves of traditional kirana stores, absorbing the tax gap.

Moreover, existing stocks in the market have been aligned with revised new goods & service tax (GST) structure through special trade discounts and QPS schemes.

Leading FMCG firms such as Dabur, ITC, Procter & Gamble, Emami, Nestle, RCPL, Amul and HUL have come up with new price lists that have been communicated to their respective distributors and consumers through their respective websites or through advertisement in local dailies.

Home-grown firm Dabur has reduced the prices of Real Juice (pack of 1 Ltr) from ₹130 to ₹122 and Chyawanprakash (900 gm) from ₹475 to ₹440. It has also reduced the price of its Dabur Red and Meswak brand toothpastes (200 gm) to ₹135 from ₹153. Prices of digestive pills Hajmola (120 tab) have also been slashed to ₹65 from ₹70.

Nestle India has not only increased price of its instant noodles Maggi from 500 gm to 600 gm but also reduced the price from ₹120 to ₹116.

Similarly, it has also extended the price of Nescafé Classic (45gm) to ₹235, slashing the price of ₹30 and ₹95 on Nescafé Gold to ₹755.

ITC has slashed the price of Savlon (100 ml) to ₹374 from ₹400. It has reduced prices of cow ghee (1 litre) to ₹1,010 from ₹1,080 and Sunfeast Marie Light (956 gm pack) to ₹150 from ₹170.

Food & beverages major PepsiCo’s distributor Varun Beverages has slashed the prices of Tropica Apple Juice (1 litre) to ₹105 from ₹115, mango juice slice (1.2 litre) from ₹70 to ₹65 and Aquafina water bottle (1 litre) to ₹18 from ₹20. Prices of aerated-based drinks remain unchanged as they would continue to face 40% duty under GST 2.0.

GST 2.0 has two slabs of 5% and 18% as against the current four slabs of 5, 12, 18 and 28%. Most daily essentials have been placed in the lower 5%, barring detergent and cosmetics, which remain under the earlier 18% slab.

FMCG products such as hair oil, soap, face powders, shampoos, toothbrushes, and toothpaste, along with all food items, will come under the lower slab of 5% from the present 18%.

Confectionery major Ferrero has reduced its popular chocolate spread Nutella by ₹50 to ₹399 for a pack of 350 gm and ₹100 on its chocolate Ferrero Rocher to ₹879 for 300 gm.

Similarly, dairy and food brand Amul has also slashed the prices of products, including ghee, butter, ice cream, and snacks. It has reduced butter prices (100 gm) from ₹62 to ₹58 and ghee (1 litre) to ₹610 from ₹650.

Amul’s paneer (200g) will cost ₹95 from ₹99, and the range of its ice cream will start from ₹9 to ₹550, down from the earlier ₹10 to ₹600.

A recent study report released by industry body FICCI estimates that GST 2.0 will result in a short-term revenue loss but this can be compensated by the broader consumption boost, improved compliance, and wider coverage over time.

The country’s fastest-growing FMCG firm, Reliance Consumer Products Ltd (RCPL) had slashed price of its cow ghee (1 litre) by ₹50 to 750 and its Glimmer and Get real Soaps (pack of 5) from ₹135 to ₹120.

Leading FMCG major Procter & Gamble has reduced the prices of products under brands Vicks, Head & Shoulders, Pantene, Pampers (diapers), Gillette, Old Spice and Oral-B, among others.

As per the list, Vicks Action 500 Advance and Vicks Inhaler prices have been reduced from ₹69 to ₹64, as the GST rate has gone down from 12% to 5%t.

Home-grown FMCG firm Emami has reduced prices on Boroplus Antiseptic Cream, Navratna Ayurvedic Oil and talc, Zandu balm, etc.

Leading FMCG major HUL has also announced reducing prices of its consumer product range, including Dove shampoo, Horlicks, Kissan Jam, Bru Coffee, Lux and Lifebuoy Soaps, effective September 22.

Published – September 21, 2025 06:39 pm IST

Image used for representation purpose only.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Syed Zafar Islam described GST as one of the most transformative reforms in independent India’s history, and noted that GST has even deeper impact than the landmark 1991 liberalisation scheme. File
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

On September 22, India will simplify its GST rates into two main slabs, 5% and 18%, with a special 40% bracket for “sinful” and ultra-luxury goods. Many everyday foods get cheaper. For example, pizza bread will drop from 5% to zero and a long list of sugar-based products, including sugar-boiled confectionery, chocolates, jams, and fruit jellies, will move from12-18% to 5%. Aerated and other sugar-based drinks, by contrast, will move to 40%.

While policymakers have framed GST 2.0 as being more rational, a public health lens suggests affordability gains could bypass the goal of healthier consumption. For example, pizza bread can be made of whole wheat flour, refined flour (maida) or sourdough. Sourdough bread should be more affordable because it’s healthier, yet maida will also be more accessible now even though it’s unhealthy. Similarly, slashing GST on confectionery pulls in products that are nutritionally the opposite of what India’s non-communicable disease (NCD) strategy needs.

In this context, India’s lacklustre food regulation apparatus assumes greater significance. Without trustworthy food labelling, blanket affordability gains can actually tilt demand in favour of unhealthy products.

The 40% bracket for aerated and sugar-based beverages is a public health win. Modelling and real-world studies have found similar taxes have reduced consumption in Asia and Africa by 2.5-19% and nudge reformulation, especially when accompanied by labels and advertising restrictions.

However, the GST revamp also moves a bevy of sugar-based calorically dense and nutritionally poor foods to the 5% bracket. Price cuts without warning labels expand access but do not help shoppers tell healthy and unhealthy foods apart.

Stagnant food labelling rules

India’s front-of-pack labelling (FOPL) debate has been stalled since a 2022 draft. In July this year, the Supreme Court gave the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) three months to finalise recommendations and indicated a preference for warning labels over health star ratings. In August, the regulator convened a national meeting on labelling. A public health consensus published earlier this month also called for warning labels, the use of WHO-SEARO or ICMR-NIN thresholds, and a science-led process insulated from industry capture.

These thresholds are cut-offs that determine which products must carry a warning label and thus prevent noisy over-labelling. To this end, India needs thresholds that are category-specific, per-quantity, and sugar-sensitive. A 10 g/100 g sugar limit means different things in beverages (which are consumed in larger volumes) versus solid snacks. WHO-SEARO’s Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) addresses this by applying category-based limits for total/added sugars, sodium, fats and saturated fats, and flags any non-nutritive sweetener use.

Per-quantity is required to avoid “per serving” warnings, which allow manufacturers to shrink serving sizes to evade warning thresholds. Per-100 g or -100 ml is more comparable on the shelf and the global FOPL norm. Finally, warnings should be tied to added sugars so that fruit-only products aren’t penalised, and to total sugar where reformulation is common. Products using non-nutritive sweeteners to reach sugar thresholds should still carry warnings to keep manufacturers from pivoting from sugar to sweeteners in children’s products.

Health and pricing policy

If India adopts a mandatory “high in” warnings system with robust thresholds, GST can also be differentially applied to compliant and noncompliant products. This way, labels can serve as an enforceable bridge between health policy and pricing policy. Products breaching any “high in” threshold — sugar, sodium or saturated fats — shouldn’t enjoy the 5% rate even if they are staples in marketing terms. This could avoid the current mismatch between penalising sugary beverages while discounting sugary foods.

Likewise, if beverages become more expensive but confectionery becomes cheaper, consumers, especially adolescents, may substitute one sugar source for another. A threshold-linked structure can close that gap.

Role of advertisements

Food advertising also plays an important role in connecting tax cuts with changing consumer behaviour. Since 2020, FSSAI regulations have banned ads or the sale of HFSS (high in fat, sugar, salt) foods within 50m of schools. The 2022 guidelines of the Central Consumer Protection Authority restrict misleading ads and impose due diligence on endorsers. The ASCI Code, which was updated in July, also applies content rules and disclosure norms across media platforms.

Yet India still lacks a comprehensive HFSS advertising regime with time-of-day and platform-wide restrictions and automatic linkages to FOPL. In Chile, for example, anything bearing a “high in” sign can’t be advertised to children on TV or online during specific hours. Evidence suggests that child-directed as well as time-based restrictions are more effective than narrow, programme-based limits. India should move in that direction and make ad restrictions across TV, print, and social media contingent on FOPL status.

GST 2.0 won’t improve Indians’ health by itself. Instead, the country needs mandatory FOPL warnings with category-specific, per-quantity thresholds aligned to the WHO-SEARO NPM and ICMR-NIN 2024 guidelines. Second, the GST treatment should be contingent on FOPL status: “high in” products should be taxed 18% or more while compliant products should be taxed 5% or less. Third, the rate cuts shouldn’t discount confectionery and desserts while also hiking drinks. Instead, all products crossing “high in” thresholds should face higher tax and ad limits.

Fourth, the advertising rules should go beyond school-based thinking. If a product carries any “high in” warning, it can’t be advertised to children, can’t be advertised during peak child-viewing hours, and should have restricted placement options on media platforms. Finally, the government should redirect sin-tax revenues to NCD prevention, labelling enforcement, and monitoring reformulation practices.

Robust warning labels and GST rates rationalised along public health lines will help consumers make better dietary choices at a time when the government is expanding access to many foods. Otherwise, GST 2.0 may end up adding to India’s burgeoning NCD burden.