The Eleventh and Twelfth Schedule Functions, and How GST Uses Them

Eleventh and Twelfth Schedule explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.

Two constitutional lists — 29 items for Panchayats, 18 for Municipalities — decide whether a supply is outside GST, exempt, or fully taxable. The skill is mapping: identifying the numbered entry a contract actually answers to.

The Eleventh Schedule (article 243G) lists functions that may be entrusted to a Panchayat; the Twelfth Schedule (article 243W) lists functions for a Municipality. Four separate GST outcomes turn on them: section 7(2)(b) notifies activities in relation to those functions as non-supplies; entries 3 and 3A exempt pure services and low-goods composite supplies to Government or a local authority in relation to them; entry 3B exempts five such services to a Governmental Authority; and entries 4 and 5 exempt services by a Governmental Authority in relation to them. The definition of "Governmental Authority" itself is keyed to these functions.

The Eleventh Schedule — 29 functions (article 243G)

1. Agriculture, including agricultural extension · 2. Land improvement, implementation of land reforms, land consolidation and soil conservation · 3. Minor irrigation, water management and watershed development · 4. Animal husbandry, dairying and poultry · 5. Fisheries · 6. Social forestry and farm forestry · 7. Minor forest produce · 8. Small scale industries, including food processing industries · 9. Khadi, village and cottage industries · 10. Rural housing · 11. Drinking water · 12. Fuel and fodder · 13. Roads, culverts, bridges, ferries, waterways and other means of communication · 14. Rural electrification, including distribution of electricity · 15. Non-conventional energy sources · 16. Poverty alleviation programme · 17. Education, including primary and secondary schools · 18. Technical training and vocational education · 19. Adult and non-formal education · 20. Libraries · 21. Cultural activities · 22. Markets and fairs · 23. Health and sanitation, including hospitals, primary health centres and dispensaries · 24. Family welfare · 25. Women and child development · 26. Social welfare, including welfare of the handicapped and mentally retarded · 27. Welfare of the weaker sections, and in particular of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes · 28. Public distribution system · 29. Maintenance of community assets.

The Twelfth Schedule — 18 functions (article 243W)

1. Urban planning including town planning · 2. Regulation of land-use and construction of buildings · 3. Planning for economic and social development · 4. Roads and bridges · 5. Water supply for domestic, industrial and commercial purposes · 6. Public health, sanitation conservancy and solid waste management · 7. Fire services · 8. Urban forestry, protection of the environment and promotion of ecological aspects · 9. Safeguarding the interests of weaker sections of society, including the handicapped and mentally retarded · 10. Slum improvement and upgradation · 11. Urban poverty alleviation · 12. Provision of urban amenities and facilities such as parks, gardens, playgrounds · 13. Promotion of cultural, educational and aesthetic aspects · 14. Burials and burial grounds; cremations, cremation grounds; and electric crematoriums · 15. Cattle pounds; prevention of cruelty to animals · 16. Vital statistics including registration of births and deaths · 17. Public amenities including street lighting, parking lots, bus stops and public conveniences · 18. Regulation of slaughter houses and tanneries.

Mapping, in four decided cases

PDS milling — entry 28 of the Eleventh Schedule. The question was whether milling of wheat into flour with fortification, or paddy into rice, for a State Government's Public Distribution System qualifies for entry 3A. Circular No. 153/09/2021-GST dated 17.06.2021: "Public Distribution specifically figures at entry 28 of the 11th Schedule", so entry 3A applies provided the value of goods in the composite supply (fortification material, packing material) does not exceed 25%. "It is a matter of fact as to whether the value of goods in such composite supply is up to 25% and requires ascertainment on case-to-case basis."

And the fallback if it exceeds 25%: the supply is job work at 5% under entry 26 of Notification No. 11/2017-CT(R), if provided to a registered person. The circular adds a point of real practical value: "a person registered only for the purpose of deduction of tax under section 51 of the CGST Act is also a registered person for the purposes of the said entry No. 26" — so the 5% job work rate is available even where the State body holds only a TDS registration.

CPWD horticulture — entries 29 and 8. Circular No. 206/18/2023-GST dated 31.10.2023 held that horticulture and horticulture works for the Central Public Works Department are exempt under entries 3 and 3A, because "Maintenance of community assets, urban forestry, protection of the environment and promotion of ecological aspects are functions entrusted to Panchayats and Municipalities under Article 243G and 243W read with Sr. No. 29 of the 11th Schedule and Sr. No. 8 of the 12th Schedule."

RERA — entries 1 and 2 of the Twelfth Schedule. Circular No. 228/22/2024-GST dated 15.07.2024: RERA regulates real estate development and construction of buildings, "which fall under Entry No. 1 and 2 of the Twelfth Schedule" — so it is a Governmental Authority, and its statutory collections are exempt under entry 4.

DMFTs — activities "similar to" the Schedules. Circular No. 206/18/2023-GST found that District Mineral Foundation Trusts provide drinking water supply, environment protection, health care, education, welfare of women and children and medical equipment — "activities similar to activities that are enlisted in Eleventh Schedule and Twelfth Schedule" — and are therefore Governmental Authorities.

Two cases where the mapping failed

MCD's office upkeep. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi received housekeeping, civil maintenance, furniture maintenance and horticulture from a facility management agency for the upkeep of its own headquarters. Circular No. 245/02/2025-GST dated 28.01.2025 held that "these services are not supplied in relation to performing any functions entrusted to a Municipality under Article 243W", so they fall outside entry 3A and GST is applicable at the applicable rates.

The distinction is precise, and it is the most instructive in the chapter. Horticulture in a public park is entry 12 or entry 8 of the Twelfth Schedule; horticulture in a municipal office building is the upkeep of the body's own premises. Same service, same recipient, opposite outcome.

Army sanitation and conservancy. Circular No. 177/08/2022-GST dated 03.08.2022 clarified that where such services are procured by the Indian Army or any other Government Ministry or Department which does not perform any functions listed in the 11th and 12th Schedules, in the manner as a local authority does for the general public, they are not eligible for entries 3 and 3A.

So the test is functional, not institutional. The recipient must be performing a Schedule function for the general public, not merely be a public body.

The proposition that ties it together

The Handbook states it twice, and it is the rule to apply to any unclarified receipt:

"Sovereign functions assigned to Panchayat and Municipality are listed in schedule XI and XII of the Constitution. And when even these instrumentalities engage in transactions that are NOT within the pith of these activities, they will be exposed to the incidence of GST."

And: "All functions 'by' sovereign are not functions 'of' the sovereign."

The practical method that follows is the one every circular uses:

1. Identify what is actually being done — the scope of work, not the contract's title.
2. Find the numbered entry in Schedule XI or XII that it answers to, and be able to name it.
3. Ask for whom — the general public in discharge of that function, or the body's own administration.
4. Then choose the head — non-supply under 7(2)(b), entry 3/3A, entry 3B, or entries 4/5 — and check the recipient category each requires.

Step 2 is the one that is skipped. An exemption claim that cannot name the entry it relies on is an exemption claim that will not survive.

Key takeaways

• 29 Panchayat functions (Eleventh Schedule, article 243G) and 18 Municipality functions (Twelfth Schedule, article 243W).
• They drive four GST outcomes: section 7(2)(b) non-supplies, entries 3 and 3A, entry 3B, and entries 4 and 5 — plus the definition of Governmental Authority.
• PDS milling = entry 28, exempt under 3A within the 25% goods limit; otherwise 5% job work, and a TDS-only registrant counts as a registered person for that rate.
• CPWD horticulture = entries 29 and 8; RERA = entries 1 and 2; DMFT activities are "similar to" the Schedules.
• MCD's own office upkeep is not a 243W function — Circular No. 245/02/2025.
• Army sanitation is not exempt where the recipient does not perform a Schedule function as a local authority does for the public — Circular No. 177/08/2022.
• Always be able to name the numbered entry relied on.

Read next

• Entries 3 and 3A: Pure Services and the 25% Rule
• Governmental Authority and Government Entity, Defined
• Section 7(2)(b) and Schedule III: What Government Does That Is Not a Supply

Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on articles 243G and 243W and the Eleventh and Twelfth Schedules to the Constitution, entries 3, 3A, 3B, 4 and 5 of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate), entry 26 of Notification No. 11/2017-Central Tax (Rate), and Circulars No. 153/09/2021-GST, 177/08/2022-GST, 206/18/2023-GST, 228/22/2024-GST and 245/02/2025-GST, as reproduced in the ICAI Handbook on Government Supplies under GST (Including TDS Provisions), updated to 15 April 2026.