GST Rate Classification for Polypropylene Leno Bags Explained
West Bengal AAR ruled that polypropylene leno bags with woven plastic strips up to 5 mm wide count as textile bags.
- Ruling
- 09/WBAAR/2018-19 dated 06.07.2018
- Dated
- 05 Jul 2018
- Authority
- Authority for Advance Ruling
This page was written by Patron Accounting’s AI from the official release and reviewed before publishing. It explains the document in plain language. It is not the document itself. Where this page and the original differ, the original governs.
The short version
- Mega Flex Plastics asked if PP Leno bags are plastic or textile items.
- West Bengal AAR classified PP Leno bags under textile heading 6305 33 00.
- The ruling applies only if plastic strip width is 5 mm or less.
- The fabric must be unlaminated and uncoated with plastic.
In short
The company asked whether Polypropylene (PP) Leno bags, commonly used to pack vegetables and fruits in bulk, should be taxed as plastic articles or as textile bags under GST. The confusion arose because the bags are made from plastic raw materials, but the process involves extruding them into thin strips, weaving them into fabric on looms, and stitching them into bags.
What has changed
How it worked before
Before this ruling, businesses were uncertain whether woven plastic bags should be treated as plastic packaging under Chapter 39 or as textile made-up articles under Chapter 63, leading to inconsistent tax filing positions.
What has changed
The West Bengal Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) decided in order 09/WBAAR/2018-19 that PP Leno bags belong under textile subheading 6305 33 00. This classification applies only if the woven plastic strips are 5 mm or less in width and the fabric is not laminated or coated with plastic. In practice, this gives clear technical criteria for classifying woven packaging products under Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Who this affects
Manufacturers, suppliers, and traders in India who produce or sell woven polypropylene bags and agricultural packaging sacks.
An example
SunPack Industries, a packaging firm in Gujarat, makes mesh polypropylene bags for vegetable farmers using plastic strips that are 2.5 mm wide. The fabric is woven on looms without any plastic coating or lamination. SunPack wants to know if they can classify their bags under textile subheading 6305 33 00. This ruling suggests that because their strip width is under 5 mm and the fabric is uncoated, the tax department views such bags as textile items.
What you should do
Review your product specifications to verify whether your plastic strip width is 5 mm or less and that no lamination is applied. Keep in mind that an advance ruling binds only the business that asked for it and their specific tax office. If you want legal certainty for your own operations, you must file a separate advance ruling application with your state authority.
If you do nothing
If you assume this ruling automatically covers your business without matching its exact technical specifications, you risk paying tax under the wrong rate. A GST officer could reclassify your goods during an audit and demand tax shortfalls along with interest and penalties. Additionally, if your bag strips exceed 5 mm in width or use plastic lamination, relying on this ruling will lead to tax non-compliance.
The terms explained
- advance ruling
- A formal written decision given by tax authorities to a specific business explaining how GST law applies to their declared transaction.
- input tax credit
- The GST a business pays when buying goods or services, which it can deduct from the GST it collects on its own sales.
- tariff heading
- A standardized code number used in GST to categorize goods and determine the correct tax rate.
The ruling in detail
Authority for Advance Ruling
Mega Flex Plastics Ltd
09/WBAAR/2018-19 dated 06.07.2018 · West Bengal
Questions before the authority
- Classification of Polypropylene Leno Bags under the CGST/WBGST Acts, 2017.
Facts
The Applicant manufactures Polypropylene Leno Bags composed of Polypropylene (92-94%), Linear Low Density Polyethylene (3-5%), and Colour Master Batch (3-4%), used mainly for packing fruits and vegetables in bulk. The manufacturing process involves extruding raw materials into tapes/strips, weaving them into Woven Leno Fabric on looms, and stitching the cut fabric into bags. The Applicant sought an advance ruling to determine whether the product is classifiable under plastic articles (Chapter 39) or textile made-up articles (Chapter 63).
Ruling
| Question | What the authority ruled |
|---|---|
| Classification of PP Leno Bags | Tariff Sub Heading 6305 33 00 Subject to being made from woven PP fabric using strips of width not exceeding 5 mm and without impregnation, coating, covering, or lamination with plastics |
The Authority ruled that 'PP Leno Bags' are to be classified under **Tariff Sub Heading 6305 33 00**. This classification applies if the bags are specifically made from woven Polypropylene fabric using strips of **width not exceeding 5 mm** and without any impregnation, coating, covering, or lamination with plastics.
Reasoning
The Authority analyzed Note 1(g) and Note 1(h) to Section XI of the Tariff Act, which exclude plastic strips of width exceeding 5 mm as well as impregnated, coated, or laminated fabrics from the scope of textile articles under Chapters 50 to 63. Further, Bureau of Indian Standards specification IS 16187:2014 for PP Leno Woven sacks prescribes a strip width range of 2.0 mm to 2.5 mm. Consequently, where the PP strips used do not exceed 5 mm in width and the fabric remains unlaminated and uncoated, the goods qualify as man-made textile material under Chapter 63 rather than plastic articles under Chapter 39.
Provisions relied on
- Section 97(2)(a) of the CGST Act, 2017
- Section 97(2)(a) of the WBGST Act, 2017
- Note 2(p) to Chapter 39 of the GST Tariff
- Note 1(g) to Section XI of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975
- Note 1(h) to Section XI of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975
- Tariff Sub Heading 6305 33 00
- Tariff Sub Heading 3923 29 90
- IS 16187:2014
For the practitioner
This ruling establishes the technical parameters for classifying PP Leno Bags under textile **Tariff Sub Heading 6305 33 00** instead of plastic packaging under Heading 3923. Practitioners can use this precedent for clients manufacturing woven plastic bags provided technical documentation confirms strip width is 5 mm or less and there is no plastic lamination or coating. It does not apply to bags manufactured with plastic strips wider than 5 mm or those with laminated/coated fabric.
Source
This is a summary prepared from the published order, which is a scanned document. It is a reading aid and not the authority: where the two differ, the order governs. Verify every provision against the original before relying on it.
Original order: https://www.gstcouncil.gov.in/sites/default/files/AAR/order_no._9_of_fy_19_dated_05072018.pdf
Legibility of the scan, as read: high.
Prepared 20-10-2026.
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