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A Grant Thornton Bharat–Policy Watch India Foundation (PWIF) paper recommends 5% GST on smartphones priced below ₹25,000, while retaining the existing rate for premium devices. It is a proposal—not an approved GST change. The GST Council’s published recommendations from its 57th meeting on 8 October 2026 do not list a smartphone rate change.
What does the smartphone GST paper propose?
The paper, titled “Reimagining GST for Affordable Smartphones: Enabling Digital Inclusion and Manufacturing Growth in India,” was launched by PWIF on 1 July 2026. It recommends two price bands:
| Device price band | Rate proposed by the paper |
|---|---|
| Below ₹25,000 | 5% GST |
| ₹25,000 and above, described as premium devices | Retain the existing rate |
PTI coverage of the paper describes the current uniform smartphone rate as 18%, including for higher-priced devices. That figure is the reported description of the existing rate; a current product-specific official tax notification was not available in the sources cited here. The paper does not propose cutting GST to 5% on every smartphone. PWIF’s announcement of the paper describes the recommendation; GoodReturns/PTI’s coverage reports the 18% description.
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Has a 5% rate below ₹25,000 been approved?
No. The 5% rate is a recommendation by Grant Thornton Bharat and PWIF, not a GST Council decision. The Council’s published recommendations from its 57th meeting, held on 8 October 2026, do not include a smartphone rate change. Its 57th-meeting press release is the relevant official status record.
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A government overview published by the Press Information Bureau on 9 October 2026 describes the broader GST structure as 5% and 18%, plus a special 40% rate for select goods and services. That general summary does not establish the product-specific GST rate for smartphones. The PIB overview should not be read as confirmation that the proposed smartphone split is in force.
Why do the authors want a lower rate on affordable phones?
The authors argue that one rate for entry-level and premium smartphones weighs more heavily on price-sensitive buyers and can hinder digital inclusion. They frame affordable smartphones as “first-access digital infrastructure rather than discretionary consumer products,” wording reported by GoodReturns/PTI. The paper presents affordability, Digital India, financial inclusion and domestic electronics manufacturing as reasons for the change; these are its intended policy benefits, not demonstrated outcomes of an adopted tax change.
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PTI reporting attributes two approximate figures to the Grant Thornton Bharat–PWIF study: nearly two-thirds of India’s handset shipments are in the sub-₹25,000 smartphone segment, and nearly 35 crore Indians continue to use feature phones. The underlying dataset, shipment period, source for the feature-phone estimate and reference date were not available in the reporting cited here, so these should be treated as study-reported context rather than independently verified government statistics. Hindustan Times/PTI’s report covers the proposal and these figures.
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What should phone buyers expect now?
Do not assume a phone under ₹25,000 has received a GST reduction: the proposal has not been adopted in the Council’s published 57th-meeting recommendations. No implementation date is established by the cited sources. For a transaction-specific answer, check the current official tax notification that applies to smartphones; the Council’s broad rate overview alone does not confirm a product’s statutory rate.
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