Why did Gandhi choose salt as the issue for the Salt March?

Mahatma Gandhi chose salt as the focal point for his 1930 Salt March because it was a powerful, universal symbol of the injustice of British rule that directly affected the lives of the impoverished Indian populace.123

The British maintained a lucrative monopoly on the production and distribution of salt, prohibiting Indians from producing or selling it independently. Instead, the population was forced to purchase expensive, heavily taxed salt, often imported, which placed an unfair economic burden on the vast majority of Indians who lived in poverty.231

By choosing to defy these laws, Gandhi mounted a highly visible and symbolic protest against the repressive tax. The act of collecting salt along the shore at Dandi allowed Gandhi and his followers to technically "produce" salt, thereby breaking the law in a way that was simple, nonviolent, and easily understood by all, effectively galvanizing widespread support for the Indian Independence Movement.231