The Congress connected Sunday (September 21, 2025) accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of taking "sole ownership" of the amendments made to the GST authorities and said the existent reforms were inadequate, with nary solution to the States' request for an hold of compensation for different 5 years.
PM Modi code connected GST reforms: Follow highlights connected September 21, 2025
A time earlier reduced GST rates travel into effect, Mr. Modi made a beardown transportation for promoting ‘swadeshi’ goods and asserted that the adjacent procreation GST reforms would accelerate India’s maturation story, summation easiness of doing business, and pull much investors.
In his address to the nation, Mr. Modi said a 'GST bachat utsav (savings festival)' volition statesman from the archetypal time of Navratri, and coupled with the income taxation exemption, it volition beryllium a "double bonanza" for astir people.
Reacting to his address, Congress wide secretary, in-charge, communications, Jairam Ramesh, said Mr. Modi addressed the federation to “claim sole ownership of the amendments made to the GST authorities by the GST Council, a law body.”
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“The Indian National Congress has agelong argued that the Goods and Services Tax has been a “Growth Suppressing Tax”, helium said.
”It is plagued with a precocious fig of taxation brackets, punitive taxation rates for items of wide consumption, large-scale evasion and misclassification, costly compliance burdens, and an inverted work operation (lower taxation connected output arsenic compared to inputs),” Mr. Ramesh said successful a station connected X.
"We person been demanding a GST 2.0 since July 2017 itself. This was a cardinal pledge made successful our Nyay Patra for the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections," helium said.
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Mr. Ramesh said the existent GST reforms were inadequate, with outstanding issues, including the wide concerns of MSMEs, the large employment generators successful the economy.
"Apart from large procedural changes, this involves further expanding the thresholds that use to interstate supplies," helium said.
Mr. Ramesh claimed that determination were besides sectoral issues – for instance, successful textiles, tourism, exporters, handicrafts and cultivation inputs – that indispensable beryllium tackled.
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States should beryllium incentivised to determination towards the instauration of state-level GST to screen electricity, alcohol, petroleum, and existent property arsenic well, the Congress person said.
"The cardinal request of the states made successful the existent tone of cooperative federalism – namely, the hold of compensation for different 5 years to afloat support their revenues – remains unaddressed," Mr. Ramesh said.
He wondered whether the GST changes, "delayed by 8 years", would really boost the backstage concern indispensable for higher GDP growth.
Meanwhile, the commercialized shortage with China has doubled successful the past 5 years to transverse $100 billion, Mr. Ramesh pointed out.
He claimed that Indian concern was crippled by fearfulness and "oligopolisation", which is starring galore to resettle abroad.
From room staples to electronics, from medicines and instrumentality to automobiles, goods and services volition beryllium cheaper from Monday (September 22, 2025) arsenic the reduced GST rates connected astir 375 items travel into effect.
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The reforms, hammered by the GST Council, comprising the Centre and states, volition travel into effect from September 22 -- the archetypal time of the Navaratri.
The taxation authorities present assumes a two-tier structure, with the bulk of goods and services attracting taxation of 5% and 18%, and ultra luxury items being levied a 40% tax. Tobacco and related products volition proceed to beryllium successful the 28% positive cess category.
Till now, the GST was levied successful 4 slabs of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%. Besides, a compensation cess is levied connected luxury items and demerit oregon misdeed goods. Mass depletion items similar ghee, paneer, butter, ‘namkeen’, ketchup, jam, adust fruits, java and crystal creams, and aspirational goods similar TV, AC and washing machines volition go cheaper.
