About Chapter 28
Chapter 28 of the Harmonized System of Nomenclature (HSN) is titled “Inorganic chemicals, organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, of radioactive elements or of isotopes”. It is part of Section VI, Chemical Products, together with Chapter 29 (organic chemicals), Chapter 30 (pharmaceutical products), Chapter 31 (fertilisers), Chapter 32 (tanning or dyeing extracts; tannins and their derivatives), Chapter 33 (essential oils, perfumes, cosmetics), Chapter 34 (soap, organic surface-active agents, washing preparations), Chapter 35 (albuminoidal substances; modified starches; glues; enzymes), Chapter 36 (explosives; pyrotechnic products; matches; pyrophoric alloys), Chapter 37 (photographic or cinematographic goods) and Chapter 38 (miscellaneous chemical products).
The chapter is divided into 50 headings, from 2801 (fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine) to 2853 (phosphides). The headings with the most codes that people search for are hypochlorites ; commercial calcium hypochlorites; chlorites; hypobromites (2828), sulphates; alums; peroxosulphates (persulphates) (2833), fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine (2801), other inorganic acids and other inorganic oxygen compounds of non-metals (2811) and hhydrogen chloride (hydrochloric acid), chlorosulphuric acid (2806).
Note 1 limits the chapter, except where the context requires otherwise, to separate chemical elements and separate chemically defined compounds, including those dissolved in water, or in another solvent where that is the normal way of putting them up for safety or transport.
Every heading is listed below. Under each are the codes that have their own page on Laabam One, 24 codes in this chapter, each with its full classification: its chapter, heading and sub-heading, and the codes beside it.
Every code in this chapter begins with 28: four digits make a heading, six a sub-heading, and eight a tariff item of India's Customs Tariff. How many of those digits a GST tax invoice shows depends on the business, not the goods: under Notification No. 78/2020 – Central Tax, from 1 April 2021, four digits where aggregate turnover in the previous financial year was up to ₹5 crore, and six above it. Up to ₹5 crore, the code may be left off invoices to unregistered buyers.
No GST rate is shown here. GST rates were revised in September 2025, and a rate appears on this site only once it has been checked against the CBIC rate notifications.
Sources: ITC(HS) Chapter 28, DGCI&S (title, headings and notes); Notification No. 78/2020 – Central Tax (HSN digits on invoices).