GST impact: Wet Grinder industry fears major blow with 28% rate

Item, mostly used by poor people, will attract the rate applicable to luxury items

The wet grinder industry in Coimbatore, which supplies the product to the rest of the country, is protesting at the 28 per cent rate fixed on it under the coming goods and services tax (GST). The present value added tax (VAT) rate is four per cent.

This development comes when manufacturers in Coimbatore were expecting the replacement market to pick up. They were also planning to expand in the northern states.

"We got good enquiries from the north but with this 28 per cent rate, nobody will buy," says M Radhakrishnan, president, Coimbatore Wet Grinders and Accessories Manufacturers Association (Cowma). A 28