Slams Cong govts for levying high taxes on crucial items
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hailed GST 2.0 as a double dose of support and growth for the nation and asserted that the series of next-generation reforms to make India self-reliant will not stop.
In an interaction with the winners of the National Teachers Awards, Modi said he had promised “double dhamaka” of next-generation GST reforms before Diwali and Chhath from the ramparts of the Red Fort and the new simplified tax rates will come into effect from September 22, the first day of Navratri.
Chhath is one of the most important festivals of Bihar, which goes to polls later this year, while Diwali and Navratri are celebrated across the country.
Modi’s remarks came a day after the GST Council approved a complete overhaul of the tangled Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime with a two-tier rate structure of 5% and 18%.
He also slammed the previous Congress governments for levying high taxes on kitchen essentials and items related to farming and agriculture, or even medicines.
“Had that regime continued, you would have been paying 20-25 rupees tax on every purchase worth Rs 100. But the aim of our government is to ensure maximum savings in the lives of common people, and to make people’s lives better,” the Prime Minister said.
He likened the GST reforms to adding ‘Panch Ratna’ (five gems) – simpler tax system, better quality of life for citizens, boost for consumption and growth, encouraging investments and job creation through ease of doing business and strengthening cooperative federalism for developed India – to the country’s economy.
“Without timely changes, we cannot give our country its rightful place in today’s global context. I had said from the Red Fort on 15 August this time that it is crucial to undertake next-generation reforms to make India self-reliant. I had also promised the countrymen that there would be a double blast of happiness before this Diwali and Chhath Puja,” he said.
The Prime Minister called upon students to think of ways to fulfil at least one need of the country. He said the new law to regulate online gaming will safeguard the future of the country’s youth.
“Gaming is not bad, but gambling is and the future of our youth must be safeguarded,” he said, adding that India can dominate the global online gaming market, if it is done in the right manner.
“Today, the nation has a government that has political will and that cares for the bright future of the youth. We have enacted the law related to online gaming without heeding to any pressure,” the Prime Minister said. He also made a strong pitch for the use of ‘swadeshi’ products and urged students and teachers to lead campaigns for ‘vocal for local’.
Meanwhile, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal urged the industry on Thursday to pass on to consumers the full benefits of the GST rate reductions, the “biggest ever reform” since India’s independence. He said the GST reforms would boost demand in almost all sectors, supporting the economic growth of the country.
According to the reforms approved by the GST Council on Wednesday, common use items from roti/paratha to hair oil, ice creams and TVs will cost less, while tax incidence on personal health and life insurance will be brought down to nil.
Almost all personal-use items and aspirational goods for the middle class, like AC, washing machines, will see rate cuts as the government looks to boost domestic spending and cushion the economic blow of the US tariffs.
Premium paid for individual life insurance and health insurance (including family floater), policies too have been exempted from GST. Earlier, such policies were subject to 18 per cent GST.
