Government Reviewing Options To Tax Obesity Inducing Food Items: Report

Government could consider taxing food items high on sugar, fat and salt content and which don't have front-of-the-pack labelling, in order to tackle rising obesity among people in the country.

This has been stated by government think tank Niti Aayog's annual report for 2021-22. According to it, government is analysing evidences available to decide upon measures which can be taken to tackle the problem. Taxing food items which lead to obesity is one of the possibilities.

Niti Aayog noted that obesity is especially rising among children, adolescents and women in India.

"A national consultation on the prevention of maternal, adolescent and childhood obesity was organised under the chairmanship of member (Health), Niti Aayog, on June 24, 2021, to discuss policy options to tackle the issue. Niti Aayog is reviewing the evidence available to understand the actions India can take, such as front-of-pack labelling, marketing and advertising of high fat content foods and taxation of foods high in fats, sugar and salt, " it said.

Non-branded namkeens, bhujias, vegetable chips and snack foods attract 5 per cent GST while for branded and packaged items, the GST rate is 12 per cent.

According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) 2019-20, the percentage of obese women increased to 24 per cent from 20.6 per cent in 2015-16, while the percentage for men rose to 22.9 per cent from 18.4 per cent four years earlier.

The government think tank in its annual report also said that an expert committee under Niti Aayog member V K Saraswat to study the technological and commercial viability of the hyperloop system held four meetings so far and sub-committees were constituted.

The sub-committees suggested that hyperloop system be permitted to be built, owned and operated by the private sector and the government act as a facilitator by providing certification, permissions, tax benefits and land (if possible), etc," it said.

The report said a blueprint will be prepared to develop indigenously built hyperloop technology.

According to the annual report, the sub-committees also said that the government will not invest its fund and private players will take the full business risks.

Hyperloop is a technology proposed by inventor and businessman Elon Musk, who is behind the electric car company Tesla and the commercial space transport company SpaceX.