New Delhi, July 25 (KNN) With the decline in GST rate from 28% to 18% with effect from July 27, the paint industry said the benefits of lower tax rates should entirely be passed on to consumers, but the prices of raw materials and other factors are also important.

The Indian Paint Association (IPA) in its annual general meeting said, “effort was on to reduce the paints price by 10 percent to pass on the Goods and Services tax (GST) benefit to the consumers.”

Speaking on the sidelines of AGM, IPA vice-president Mahesh Anand said "Though, we have not received the fine print, but we are making efforts to pass on the full benefit of GST to the consumers. But it cannot be done due to some other factors.”

Given the anti-profiteering provisions, companies are expected to pass this benefit on to consumers in the form of price cuts, he added.

Speaking about the industry outlook, Anand said with the GST reduction the paint sector was expected to get additional push of 3-4 percent to register double digit growth.

The GST Council has decided to lower the rate on paints by 10 per cent at its meeting on Saturday.