Varun Beverages Shares Fall; GST Hike Impact

New Delhi, Sep 5 (PTI) Shares of Varun Beverages tumbled 4 per cent on Friday, extending its previous day's decline, after the GST Council approved a hike in tax rate on carbonated beverages to 40 per cent from 28 per cent at present.

The stock tanked 4.04 per cent to settle at Rs 469.70 on the BSE. During the day, it declined 4.28 per cent to Rs 468.50.

At the NSE, it fell by 4 per cent to Rs 469.65.

On Thursday, the stock declined nearly 3 per cent.

Popular soft drinks, such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, along with other non-alcoholic beverages, will become costlier, with the GST Council on Wednesday approving a hike in tax rate on carbonated beverages to 40 per cent from 28 per cent at present.

As part of the reforms of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the council increased the rate on carbonated beverages of fruit drink or carbonated beverages with fruit juice to 40 per cent from 28 per cent.


The council also hiked the GST rate on caffeinated beverages to 40 per cent from 28 per cent.

The panel approved simplifying the GST from the current four slabs - 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent, to a two-rate structure - 5 and 18 per cent.

A special 40 per cent slab is also proposed for a select few items such as high-end cars, tobacco and cigarettes.

The 40 per cent tax will also be levied on services by a race club, leasing or rental services, and casinos/gambling/horse racing/lottery/online money gaming.

Meanwhile, shares of Delta Corp dropped 2.65 per cent to settle at Rs 84.99. Intra-day, the stock lost 3.20 per cent to Rs 84.50.

The company's stock tanked 8.33 per cent on Thursday.