GST takes light out of safety matches

Thootukudi’s match manufacturers say that while the GST on safety matches has dropped to 5 per cent from 12 per cent, the recent upward revision of GST on critical raw materials—specifical ly paper and cardboard—to 18 per cent is negating expected relief.

- HD Bureau

Industry figures claim the shift has undercut the besqueezed margins in an already fragile sector.

Manufacturers in Tamil Nadu assert that paper and cardboard, essential for the inner and outer packaging of matchboxes, have been moved into the higher tax slab, effectively offsetting the reductions in taxes on flints and match products.