Specific description-based IGST classification gives qualifying bulk drugs and APIs the concessional drugs-and-medicines rate over chemical entries.

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....Bulk drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients qualify as "All Drugs and medicines" for concessional IGST treatment where they meet the drug description and are not within the prescribed nil-rate exclusion. The statutory drug definition includes substances intended for use as drug components; importing APIs for testing, clinical research, clinical trials, bioavailability, or bioequivalence studies does not alone change that status. The drugs-and-medicines entry applies across tariff chapters and prevails over general Chapter 28 or 29 chemical entries under the specific-over-general classification principle. Qualifying APIs attract IGST at 5%, subject to examination of the exclusion for each imported product.....