The Goods and Services Tax (GST) to be implemented from July 1 will adversely impact Ayush-based personal care products.
The Ayush category includes ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, unani, siddha and homoeopathy. “Except hair oil, all other products are included in 28 per cent tax slab which translates into 7-8 per cent increase in taxation at the national level,” Viswanathan told newspersons.
At present, the tax rates on Ayush based personal care products vary among the states. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, for instance, the effective taxation is 16.5 per cent while in Tamil Nadu, it is around 21 per cent. “While the government is aggressively promoting Indian culture and Ayurveda globally, higher tax incidence under GST will make Ayurvedic FMCG products costly and out of reach for the common people,’’ he said.
The industry representatives had submitted representations to bring down GST slab on Ayush products to 12 per cent. “Nothing has happened so far. But we hope that our demand will be met in the last and final revision of tax slabs on June 30,’’ he said.
While the total national market for personal care products is valued at about ₹35,000 crore, Ayush-based products account for nearly ₹6,000 crore, as per industry estimates.
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