New Delhi, Dec 30 || The GST Council may consider cutting goods and services tax on air and water purifiers for domestic use from 18 per cent to 5 per cent, reclassifying them as essential items rather than discretionary consumer goods.
It could lower retail prices by about 10-15 per cent, improving affordability for lower‑income families at a time when air quality across the country worsens and access to safe drinking water remains uneven, multiple reports said, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The date of the next GST Council meeting remains unknown, the reports said. The Council last met in September for its 56th session, when rates on purifiers were left unchanged, and officials said any reduction would require consensus among state finance ministers.
Pressure on the Council to cut rates intensified after the Delhi High Court earlier this week asked the government to convene a meeting, virtually, if necessary, to consider cutting or abolishing GST on air purifiers amid worsening air quality in Delhi‑NCR.