Will the new GST rates make Ramdev's Patanjali products become costlier?
BT Online Last Updated: May 23, 2017 | 15:08 IST 
Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda, which has given multinational FMCGs a run for their money, may not be happy with the 12 per cent tax that will be levied on its Ayurvedic products under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
"We request the government for a review of the GST rate for the ayurvedic category in the interest of the common man. Without good health or good living, there cannot be 'achhe din', ET quoted Patanjali Ayurveds spokesperson SK Tijarawala, as saying.
Ayurveda products currently attract a 8-9 per cent levy. Patanjali sells a number of Ayurvedic products such as medicines, shampoos, toothpaste.
"Increasing the GST rate on ayurvedic products is disappointing and disheartening. We are the ones who have made ayurveda reach consumers at affordable prices, and other companies have followed our lead," the spokesperson said.
Earlier, FMCG major Dabur had expressed disappointment on the GST Council's decision to levy 12 per cent tax rate on ayurvedic medicines and products, saying it will have adverse impact on the ayurveda industry.
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The move to increase tax rate on such items runs contrary to the governments efforts of promoting traditional Indian alternative medicine. "We are disappointed with the governments decision to levy 12 per cent GST on ayurvedic medicines and products," Dabur India Chief Financial Officer Lalit Malik had said.
The Burman family-promoted 132-year-old ayurvedic company has a portfolio of over 250 herbal/ayurvedic products. He further said that the new tax rate "will be adverse for the Ayurvedic medicines category and that too at a time when the government has been talking about promoting traditional Indian alternative medicine."
With ayurvedic products becoming popular in the FMCG segment, even Hindustan Unilever has been preparing to enter the segment with a new range of products under Lever Ayush brand.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated a research centre at Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar.
