Price cuts, record electronics and massive car sales: Cabinet ministers Sitharaman, Goyal, Vaishnaw on GST 2.0

India saw a triumvirate of cabinet ministers address the nation on Dhanderas to announce an update to the latest GST reforms. Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman; Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal; and Union Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw expressed the impact of GST 2.0 on Saturday.

India celebrates Diwali from Sunday (Choti Diwali) to Tuesday (Laxmi Pujan), with the main celebrations on Monday, October 21.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman kicked off the presser by wishing everyone an auspicious Dhanteras and Diwali, before handing the mic to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

Goyal took the example of vehicle sales in India this festive season to drive his point home. Maruti Suzuki sold 1.65 lakh cars in the first 8 days of Navratri, while Mahindra sales shot up by 7 per cent. Tata Motors sold at least half a lakh cars in the same period, the Commerce Minister noted.

Negative food inflation

The cabinet ministers also noted that India is now seeing a "food deflation" instead of inflation.

Official data from the Labour Ministry confirmed this: Retail inflation for farm and rural workers eased to -0.07 per cent and 0.31 per cent, respectively, in September from 1.07 per cent and 1.26 per cent in August, respectively.

In September, the All-India Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers declined by 0.11 points to 136.23, while the index for Rural Labourers fell by 0.18 points to 136.42 points.

For reference, August 2025 CPI-AL stood at 136.34 points and CPI-RL at 136.60 points.

Record sales and outlook for electronics

Electronics saw record sales this Navratri, up 20 to 25 per cent from last year same time, noted IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Many categories, like the 85-inch TVs, saw sales that emptied the retail stock, he added.

The higher sales of electronics benefit the electronics manufacturing industry in India, which employs over 25 lakh people.

Moreover, the Centre now sees additional electronics consumption worth Rs 20 lakh crore to take place this year due to GST reforms rolled out by the government last month, Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday.

Govt monitoring if GST rate-cut benefits are reaching consumers

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman added that the benefits of GST reforms are reaching consumers in the form of reduced prices. The Centre has been monitoring price cuts in 54 items since the lower GST rates came into effect on September 22.

In case of some items, businesses have even passed on to consumers higher than the weighted-average GST rate cut benefits, she noted.

Sitharaman also highlighted that the Department of Consumer Affairs received 3,169 complaints related to non-reduction in prices commensurate with the GST cut. Of this, 3,075 complaints have been forwarded to nodal officers in the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), and 94 complaints have been resolved.

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