New Delhi, 22 September (IANS). GST reforms have brought great relief to the middle class. This has reduced the prices of many essential and non-essential products. It includes food, automobiles, healthcare, personal care and other household products.
Everyday needs of every household like soap, toothpaste, shampoo, hair oil, tooth powder will now levy 5 percent GST instead of 18 percent, which will make things cheaper for the middle class family. This can save Rs 500 on the grocery bill of Rs 5,000.
A middle class family spending about Rs 8,000-10,000 per month on grocery goods and food items will save about Rs 800-1,000 per month, which is more than Rs 10,000 per month, which is more than Rs 10,000 per month.
GST on cheese, bread, packed parathas and other daily use items has now become zero, while butter, ghee, cheese, chocolate, biscuits and pickles have been removed from a slab of 18 or 12 percent to the slab of 5 percent.
The government has reduced the tax on many educational products to zero. This will make education related products more economical than before.
The school kit (notebook, pencil, crayon) costing Rs 1,000 from the new GST rates has now increased to Rs 850.
Additionally, GST on rare diseases, diagnostic kits, laboratory equipment and medical supply has been reduced from 12 percent to 5 percent.
Cancer medicines have now been freed from GST, which means that the drug costing Rs 10,000 per month will be cheaper by Rs 500-1,200.
A TV, which was priced earlier by Rs 40,000, will now become cheaper by Rs 4,000. Similarly, solar heaters costing Rs 60,000 per unit will become cheaper by Rs 7,000 and an air conditioner of Rs 35,000 will be cheaper by Rs 3,500.
GST rationalization will also provide relief to farmers due to reduced tax on agricultural equipment. Artisans and entrepreneurs will also benefit.
-IANS
ABS/