At present, sugar attracts specific central excise duty of Rs 71 per quintal plus sugar cess of Rs 124 per quintal, which translates to ad valorem rate of more than 6%.
The Indian Biscuit Industry has demanded complete waiver on Good & Services Tax on ‘Low Price High Nutrition’ (LPHN) Biscuits priced under MRP Rs.100/- per Kg.
The government has reduced significantly the taxes, particularly excise on food processing industries from 10 per cent to 6 per cent, Minister of State for Food Processing Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said.
However, some of the items and services required for making prasadam would be subject to GST, including sugar, vegetable edible oils, ghee, butter, service for transportation of these goods and so on.
Producers of pickles, jam, tomato ketchup, however, complained that GST had raised the taxation level and said sales had slumped after the onset of the new regime.