Gujarat AAR Rules Black Mineral Water “ALVA” Taxable at 5% GST

The Gujarat Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) just cleared up an important question for Oxyhydra Beverages Pvt. Ltd. about how GST applies to their “ALVA” Black Mineral Water. The main isuues is Whether “ALVA” should count as “mineral water” under HSN 22011010, or if it belongs in another category for GST.

Oxyhydra makes and sells bottled black alkaline mineral water in several sizes, all meant for drinking. They say the water includes minerals like calcium, magnesium, and sodium, but it doesn’t have any sugar, artificial flavours, preservatives, or sweeteners. They backed up these claims with lab reports and a detailed flow chart showing how they make the product.

The AAR took a close look at Chapter 22 of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, plus all the HSN explanatory notes that talk about mineral and aerated waters. Their take: If you make mineral water by adding minerals to purified water and there’s no sugar or flavourings, it still counts as mineral water under Heading 2201.

They leaned on the lab report that called the product “drinking water” and confirmed there were no sugars, flavours, or preservatives added. The company’s description of their manufacturing process also lined up with this; they don’t use sweeteners or flavourings at any stage.

With all this in mind, the Gujarat AAR decided “ALVA” Black Mineral Water should be classified as mineral water under HSN 22011010, in Chapter 22 of the Customs Tariff Act. They also said this product comes under Entry No. 146 of Schedule I from Notification No. 09/2025-Central Tax (Rate), dated 17th September 2025. This means that it would be taxed at 5% GST which would be equally split between CGST and SGST.

“This decision clears a lot of confusion for the companies producing alkaline and mineral water by providing them much needed guidance on how their products fit into the GST regime and the applicable tax rates. That means it is taxed at 5% GST, equally shared between CGST and SGST.”