GST Rates on Agricultural 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Two notifications that had governed goods since 2017 were superseded on the same day. Notification No. 1/2017-CT(Rate) gave way to No. 09/2025-CT(Rate), and Notification No. 2/2017 gave way to No. 10/2025, both dated 17 September 2025. The structure survived the change; the citations did not.
For goods, the rate notification is now Notification No. 09/2025-Central Tax (Rate) dated 17.09.2025 (superseding 1/2017) and the exemption notification is Notification No. 10/2025-Central Tax (Rate) dated 17.09.2025 (superseding 2/2017). For services, Notification No. 11/2017 (rates) and Notification No. 12/2017 (exemptions) continue, as amended. In agriculture the operative pattern is unchanged: fresh or chilled produce is exempt, the same goods "pre-packaged and labelled" or otherwise processed attract 5%, and fertilisers "clearly not to be used as fertilizers" attract 18%.
What was superseded and what was not
| Subject | Before 17.09.2025 | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Rates on goods | Notification No. 1/2017-CT(R) | Notification No. 09/2025-CT(R) |
| Exempt goods | Notification No. 2/2017-CT(R) | Notification No. 10/2025-CT(R) |
| Rates on services | Notification No. 11/2017-CT(R) | Unchanged, as amended |
| Exempt services | Notification No. 12/2017-CT(R) | Unchanged, as amended |
This asymmetry matters constantly in agriculture, because the sector's exemptions live mostly in Notification No. 12/2017 — entries 24, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58 — which was not superseded. Only the goods side moved.
And para 2(d), the "agricultural produce" definition, sits in both 11/2017 and 12/2017 — so it too is untouched by the 2025 supersession.
The 5% schedule, in the sector's own terms
The Handbook's illustrative list from Schedule I — 2.5% CGST (i.e. 5% GST) shows the pattern clearly:
- 0101 21 00, 0101 29 — live horses;
- 0202 to 0210 — "All goods other than fresh or chilled, pre-packaged and labelled";
- 0303 to 0309 — the same formula for fish and aquatic products;
- 0402 — milk and cream, concentrated or containing added sugar, including condensed milk;
- 0408 — birds' eggs not in shell and egg yolks, fresh, dried, cooked, moulded, frozen or otherwise preserved;
- 0409 — natural honey, pre-packaged and labelled;
- 0801 — cashew nuts whether or not shelled or peeled, desiccated coconuts, Brazil nuts dried;
- 0804 — dates, figs, pineapples, avocados, guavas, mangoes and mangosteens, dried;
- 0806 — grapes, dried, and raisins;
- 0902 — tea, whether or not flavoured, other than unprocessed green leaves of tea;
- 1302 — vegetable saps and extracts, pectins, agar-agar, including tamarind kernel powder;
- 1404 — vegetable products not elsewhere specified: cotton linters, soap nuts, hard seeds, Rudraksha seeds, bidi wrapper leaves (tendu), Indian katha;
- 1512 — sunflower-seed, safflower or cotton-seed oil;
- 1701 — cane or beet sugar, other than jaggery of all types, khandsari sugar and rab;
- 1903 — tapioca and substitutes (sabudana);
- 2002 — tomatoes prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar;
- 3101 — animal or vegetable fertilisers or organic fertilisers, pre-packaged and labelled;
- 3102 — mineral or chemical nitrogenous fertilisers, other than those clearly not to be used as fertilizers;
- 8414 20 20 — other hand pumps;
- 8424 — nozzles for drip irrigation or sprinklers; sprinklers, drip irrigation systems including laterals, mechanical sprayers;
- 8432 — soil preparation or cultivation machinery, and parts (8432 90);
- 8433 — harvesting or threshing machinery, balers, mowers, and parts;
- 8436 — other agricultural, horticultural, forestry, poultry-keeping or beekeeping machinery, germination plant, incubators and brooders, and parts.
Three drafting devices carry most of the sector's rate decisions.
"Other than fresh or chilled". The fresh or chilled form is exempt under Notification No. 10/2025; the same goods otherwise preserved come to 5%.
"Pre-packaged and labelled". The phrase converts an exempt commodity into a 5% one — honey, organic fertiliser, and across the schedule generally. It takes its meaning from the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and the rules made under it, not from GST.
"Other than unprocessed green leaves of tea". Entry 34 is the rate-side counterpart of Circular No. 16/16/2017: the leaf is agricultural produce, the tea is not. Circular 16/16/2017 and the primary market test →
The 18% entries, and where they bite
From Schedule III — 9% CGST (i.e. 18% GST):
- 3102 — mineral or chemical fertilisers, nitrogenous, which are clearly not to be used as fertilizers;
- 3103 — mineral or chemical fertilisers, phosphatic, which are clearly not to be used as fertilizers;
- 4011 — new pneumatic tyres of rubber, other than rear tractor tyres and those for bicycles, cycle-rickshaws and three-wheeled powered cycle rickshaws.
The fertiliser split is the important one. The same tariff heading appears in Schedule I at 5% and Schedule III at 18%, and the phrase "clearly not to be used as fertilizers" is the only thing separating them. The fertiliser rate split →
And entry 137 is a useful reminder about parts. Tyres are 18% generally but rear tractor tyres are carved out — a reminder that in this sector the exclusion clause is usually where the agricultural concession lives.
What is exempt outright
Under Notification No. 10/2025-CT(Rate) (formerly 2/2017), the Handbook lists the pattern: "sale of fruits like Apples, pears and quinces, Grapes, fresh, Melons (including watermelons) and papaws (papayas), fresh, Dates, figs, pineapples, avocados, guavas, mangoes and mangosteens, fresh etc and also sale of fresh vegetables like Potatoes, fresh or chilled, Onions, shallots, garlic, leeks and other alliaceous vegetables, fresh or chilled, Cabbages, cauliflowers, kohlrabi, kale and similar edible brassicas, fresh or chilled."
The consequence for the seller is stated plainly: "if Agriculturist or any person who proposes to sell the fresh fruits or fresh vegetables in the market or APMC Market it will be fully exempt under GST."
And that exemption is available to anyone, not only an agriculturist — which is why section 23(1)(a) rather than 23(1)(b) is the relief a fresh-produce trading company relies on. Section 23 and registration →
Key takeaways
- Notification No. 09/2025-CT(R) and No. 10/2025-CT(R), both dated 17.09.2025, superseded 1/2017 and 2/2017 for goods.
- Notification Nos. 11/2017 and 12/2017 for services continue as amended — which is where the agriculture exemptions live.
- Fresh or chilled produce is exempt; the same goods otherwise preserved come to 5%.
- "Pre-packaged and labelled" switches an exempt commodity to 5% — honey, organic fertilisers and others.
- Tea other than unprocessed green leaves is at 5%, matching the "agricultural produce" boundary.
- Jaggery, khandsari sugar and rab are excluded from the 1701 entry.
- Fertilisers are 5% unless "clearly not to be used as fertilizers", when they are 18%.
- Irrigation equipment (8424) and agricultural machinery (8432, 8433, 8436), and parts, are at 5%; rear tractor tyres are carved out of the 18% tyre entry.
Read next
- Classification of Agricultural Goods and Services: HSN and SAC
- Fertilisers Under GST: 5% Against 18%
- GST 2.0: The Two-Rate Structure of 5%, 18% and 40% Explained
Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on Notification No. 09/2025-Central Tax (Rate) and Notification No. 10/2025-Central Tax (Rate), both dated 17 September 2025, and Notification Nos. 11/2017 and 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) as amended, as reproduced in the ICAI Handbook on Applicability of GST on Agricultural Sector (January 2026, law updated to 31 December 2025).