New Delhi | April 15, 2025 — Dairy Dimension Bureau
A high-level delegation from the Indian Ice Cream Manufacturers’ Association (IICMA) met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi this week, advocating for a reduction in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on ice cream. The delegation submitted a formal request highlighting that the current GST rate of 18% places ice cream in the same tax category as luxury goods, despite its base as a dairy product and increasing mass-market appeal.
The meeting was led by IICMA President Sudhir Shah and included several of the sector’s most prominent voices: Rajesh Gandhi (Past President and current Chairman), R. G. Chandramogan (Chief Advisor), and Ashish Nahar (Secretary). The delegation also met with M. Nagaraju, IAS, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, to reinforce the association’s recommendations.
IICMA’s position is that ice cream, being made primarily from milk, should be treated as a dairy product rather than a luxury item. The association argued that lowering GST would improve affordability, expand market penetration in semi-urban and rural areas, and support MSME manufacturers across the country.
The delegation also pointed out that the current tax regime hampers investments in cold chain infrastructure and increases costs for small and medium businesses in the sector. Reducing GST would free up capital for industry growth, enable deeper integration with rural dairy procurement networks, and encourage formalization of a rapidly growing segment of India’s dairy economy.
India’s ice cream sector is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 10% and has become a key value addition outlet for the country’s milk surplus. However, it remains outside the scope of most policy incentives available to dairy processors, despite its potential to contribute to employment, exports, and domestic demand.
The meeting represents a broader effort by IICMA to position ice cream as a serious and inclusive component of India’s processed dairy industry. The association hopes the government will consider aligning the sector’s GST treatment with that of other essential dairy categories like paneer, curd, and ghee.