About Chapter 32
Chapter 32 of the Harmonized System of Nomenclature (HSN) is titled “Tanning or dyeing extracts; tannins and their derivatives; dyes, pigments and other colouring matter; paints and varnishes; putty and other mastics; inks”. It is part of Section VI, Chemical Products, together with Chapter 28 (inorganic chemicals), Chapter 29 (organic chemicals), Chapter 30 (pharmaceutical products), Chapter 31 (fertilisers), 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 15 headings, from 3201 (ttanning extracts of vegetable origin, tannins and their salts, ethers) to 3215 (printing ink, writing or drawing ink and other inks, whether or not concentrated or solid). The headings with the most codes that people search for are synthetic organic colouring matter (3204), paints and varnishes based on synthetic polymers or chemically modified natural polymers (3209), paints and varnishes based on synthetic polymers or chemically modified natural polymers (3208), printing ink, writing or drawing ink and other inks, whether or not concentrated or solid (3215) and prepared pigments, prepared opacifiers and prepared colours (3207).
Note 1 keeps separate chemically defined compounds out of the chapter, except those of headings 3203 and 3204, inorganic luminophores of heading 3206 and dyes put up for retail sale of heading 3212; bituminous mastics go to heading 2715.
Every heading is listed below. Under each are the codes that have their own page on Laabam One, 16 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 32: 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 32, DGCI&S (title, headings and notes); Notification No. 78/2020 – Central Tax (HSN digits on invoices).