ideaForge faces a ₹109 crore GST demand and penalty.

Listed drone manufacturer ideaForge Technology has received a GST order involving a ₹54.59 crore tax demand and an equal penalty, taking the combined disputed amount to about ₹109.17 crore. The order was issued by the Additional Commissioner of CGST & Central Excise, Belapur, and covers the period from January 2022 to March 2024.

The dispute centres on the GST rate ideaForge applied to its drone sales during that period. According to the company’s regulatory disclosure, the tax authority alleges that ideaForge paid GST at 5% when an 18% rate was applicable, resulting in an alleged 13-percentage-point shortfall. The order has not reached final resolution, and ideaForge has said it intends to challenge it through the appellate process.

The timing of India’s later drone-GST reform is important. In September 2025, the 56th GST Council recommended a uniform 5% GST rate for all drones. Government FAQs say that before the change, rates varied by classification: drones for personal use attracted 28%, thosewith digital or video cameras attracted 18%, while other unmanned aircraft could attract 5%. The 2025 reform therefore simplified a previously differentiated structure; it does not, by itself, resolve how ideaForge’s supplies should be classified for the earlier 2022–24 period. ideaForge says it had already responded to the underlying show-cause notice and, after consulting tax advisers, plans to appeal the order.

The company has also said it does not expect an immediate material impact on its financials or operations while the dispute remains unresolved and expects a favourable outcome at the appellate stage.

That remains the company’s assessment rather than a final legal determination. For ideaForge, the case highlights how classification can create substantial retrospective exposure in an emerging hardware category whose tax treatment later became more uniform.

The next development will be the appellate review, where the central issue will be the applicable GST treatment of the company’s drone supplies during the disputed period rather than the 5% rate that now applies uniformly to drones.