Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Says GST Reforms Welcomed Nationwide

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman explained that the GST reforms have been welcomed by the countrymen. She reminded that GST was rolled out on the first day of Navratri and explained that the public has welcomed it very well.

Sitharaman explained that the just rolled-out GST reforms have absolutely nothing to do with the tariff war. She said that the process of reform has been on for a year and a half now and that this move was according to a planned strategy. She further said that this reform was pending for the last year and a half. Then no one had thought of a tariff war. There were a number of groups of ministers working on it on a continuous basis. The government's package was sent to the GST Council, and the Council forwarded it to the relevant groups for consideration. It has been discussed at many levels. He further stated that it has no connection to the tariff war. This reform was long overdue and has now been implemented.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav stated that the impact of GST reforms is now clearly visible in consumption and investment figures. He said that last year, our GDP was ₹335 lakh crore, of which ₹202 lakh crore was consumption and ₹98 lakh crore was investment. Due to GST reforms, consumption is expected to increase by more than 10 percent this year, resulting in an additional consumption of approximately ₹20 lakh crore.

Vaishnav also pointed out that India has surpassed its neighboring country in smartphone exports this year, exporting the most to the United States. He said this is a major achievement for the country. Nearly 20 percent of global companies are now manufacturing in India.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated that despite global challenges, India is progressing rapidly. He noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also raised India's growth forecast to 6.6 percent. "In the first quarter, we recorded a historic growth of 7.8 percent," Goyal said.

Goyal further stated that the policies of the government, the Finance Ministry, and the Reserve Bank of India are helping protect the country from the effects of inflation. Last month, inflation remained at an eight-year low of 1.5 percent. After 17-18 years, S&P upgraded India's rating by one notch and maintained a stable outlook. Citing festive demand, he said Maruti Suzuki sold 165,000 cars in the first eight days of Navratri, a clear indication of a surge in consumption.