GST levy on COVID-19 relief imports challenged
The Hindu
Delhi HC to hear plea against tax on supplies from abroad
An NCR-based firm that imported oxygen cylinders and regulators and donated them to the Delhi government has challenged the Centre’s exclusion of such imports from the ‘ad hoc’ GST exemption for COVID-19 relief material received from abroad. The Delhi High Court is expected to hear the writ petition against the Finance Ministry, the GST Council and the Delhi government’s Finance Department on Thursday. Oxygen regulators attract an IGST of 5%, while cylinders and the rakes for carrying the regulators for them are liable to 18% IGST. Last week, a bench of the HC had held that the 12% Integrated GST (IGST) levied on oxygen concentrators imported for personal use is ‘unconstitutional’. The Finance Ministry had told the Court that the issue would be placed before the GST Council that meets on Friday.
The latest Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) by MoS&PI reveals a transformative shift in India’s economic landscape. For the first time in over a decade, granular data on Monthly Per Capita Expenditure (MPCE) highlights a significant decline in the proportional share of food spending—a classic validation of Engel’s Law as real incomes rise. Between 1999 and 2024, both rural and urban consumption pivoted away from staple-heavy diets toward protein-rich foods, health, education, and conveyance. As Indian households move beyond subsistence, these shifting Indian household spending patterns offer vital insights for social sector policy, poverty estimation, and the lived realities of an expanding middle-income population.












