On day 1 of the 14th GST Council meet in Srinagar, the centre and the states decided to keep 81 of a total of 1,211 items at the modal tax rate of 18 or below. To this end, the council also decided to keep food grains like wheat, rice and pulses zero-rated under the new tax regime. Commodities like edible oil, tea, coffee and sugar are also likely to cost less as the proposed 5 tax rate is either lower than the existing taxes in most places or is same as the currently levied value added tax.