India, Sept. 5 -- The 56th meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, chaired by Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, announced sweeping reforms aimed at providing relief to households, the middle class, and businesses while tightening tax treatment on tobacco and luxury goods.

Meeting at Sushma Swaraj Bhavan, the Council unveiled a wide-ranging package of rate rationalizations, procedural reforms, and institutional measures, calling it a "historic step" toward strengthening the GST framework.

A large basket of essential goods saw GST rates slashed to 5 per cent or even nil. Everyday food items such as Ultra High Temperature (UHT) milk, paneer, butter, cheese, pasta, biscuits, namkeens, fruit juices...