Amid GST rates row, Shashi Tharoor wades into paneer butter masala meme fest

Ever since the Centre's new Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates on pre-packed and labelled food items kicked in from Monday, one food item has been trending: paneer butter masala.

Many people have been wondering on social media whether paneer butter masala would get costlier with the new GST rates. And the latest to wade into the meme fest is Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor.

Tharoor shared on his Twitter handle a Whatsapp forward which read: "GST on Paneer: 5%. GST on Butter: 12%. GST on Masala: 5%. New Maths Question: Calculate the GST on Paneer Butter Masala."



While sharing this, Tharoor quipped: "I don't know who comes up with these brilliant WhatsApp forwards but this one skewers the folly of the GST as few jokes have!"

The new 5 per cent GST rate is for pre-packed and labelled cereals, pulses and flour weighing less than 25 kg. Some other food items such as curd, 'lassi', and puffed rice when 'prepackaged and labelled' will also attract GST at the same rate.