GST reforms by the Narendra Modi government have given an added reason to people to celebrate more during the ongoing festive season, and the record increased sales of daily-use items on the very first day of the new tax regime makes it clear that “people are really happy with it”, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said on Tuesday.
“Several ministers and leaders went to different markets and interacted with shopkeepers and consumers, and what they found out was very exciting,” Patra told media persons while addressing a press conference here at the party headquarters.
Citing an example of car sales in the country as the new GST rates came into effect yesterday, the BJP leader said that car brands like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, and others booked and sold a record number of cars on Monday.
“It’s all in the newspapers, car companies are celebrating. Maruti Suzuki has broken a record of 35 years of its sales by delivering over 25 thousand cars on a single day. Similarly, Hyundai also crossed its past five years of sales records on the same day,” he said.
Patra, while talking about other items of daily usage such as medicines and footwear, said it was not about cars alone, as people had thronged showrooms of various companies in large numbers, making them look like ‘mandis’ to buy and enquire about discounted rates of air conditioners, washing machines, and other items.
Asked why it took so long for the government to introduce these tax reforms, Patra said Congress did not do it for years, but the Modi government has been constantly working on making life good for every citizen of the country.
Notably, a number of senior ministers, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Health Minister and BJP national president JP Nadda, interacted with people and shopkeepers and visited markets to experience the firsthand impact of the reduced tax rates.
Under the GST reforms 2.0, the new system introduces a two-tier structure. Until now, GST had been levied across four tax slabs—5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent—and included a compensation cess on luxury goods.
Since September 22, GST rates have been reduced for daily-use items like snacks, coffee, ghee, paneer, butter, ketchup, jam, dry fruits, and ice cream. The GST on goods like TVs, air conditioners, and washing machines has also been reduced.
The taxes on medicines have also been reduced from 12 to 5 per cent, with critical life-saving drugs for cancer, genetic, and rare diseases being exempted from the tax altogether.