Align GST Rates With Health Goals

The latest meeting of the GST Council sought to advance reforms that balance fiscal priorities with social well-being.

- RIJO M JOHN

However, its recommendations on tobacco and sugary beverages represent a worrying setback for public health. If adopted, these measures would weaken India's ability to curb two of the most pressing health challenges of our time: tobacco-related diseases and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

The most worrying proposal is the reduction of GST on bidis from 28 percent to 18 percent, coupled with a steep cut on bidi wrappers (tendu leaves) from 18 percent to 5 percent. This is not a minor adjustment; it fundamentally undermines decades of progress in tobacco control. Bidi remains the second most commonly consumed tobacco product in India.

As of 2017, about 72 million Indians aged 15 and older smoked bidis, accounting for nearly 8 percent of the adult population. Unlike cigarettes, bidis contain less processed tobacco, but this does not make them safer as they deliver higher concentrations of nicotine. Research has firmly established bidi smoking as a cause of cancers of the oral cavity, lungs, larynx, and esophagus, as well as chronic respiratory conditions and tuberculosis.

The economic toll is equally staggering. A 2017 estimate put the annual costs attributable to bidi smoking at ₹805.5 billion for individuals aged 30-69 alone—roughly 0.5 percent of India's GDP. Yet despite this enormous burden, bidis are taxed at disproportionately low levels.