-Ramphal Kataria
8 Years of High GST, 1 Sunday of ‘Savings’ — Who Really Wins?
On Sunday evening, Prime Minister Modi announced that two festivals were about to begin: Navratri, and a “festival of GST savings.” The timing was telling — GST 2.0’s rollout was framed not as a fiscal reform, but as a cultural spectacle. One wonders: what kind of festival is it when for eight long years, GST itself has been a festival of burdens?
Since July 2017, GST has filled government coffers while emptying citizens’ wallets. Revenues have ballooned from ₹7.40 lakh crore in 2017-18 to over ₹22 lakh crore in 2024-25. For the state, GST has been a roaring success. For the consumer, it has been a slow bleed.
Now, suddenly, we are told that “savings will inflate.” Why? Not because the government had a change of heart, but because international pressure — particularly American criticism of India’s high tariffs — forced a rationalisation. This is less economic benevolence, more trade diplomacy under duress.
And yet, the basic question remains unanswered: how will consumers actually get these so-called savings? The stock already in shops has been taxed at the higher rate. Unless there is a mechanism to enforce price reductions, traders will quietly pocket the difference. The state will claim credit, companies will enjoy windfalls, and the public will be left wondering what exactly got cheaper.
This is not paranoia. It has happened before. The much-hyped National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) confirmed profiteering of hundreds of crores by big firms like HUL and Domino’s when GST rates were cut earlier. Instead of strengthening this watchdog, the government quietly dissolved it in 2022, handing its weak functions to the Competition Commission of India. Today, when rate cuts are being trumpeted as a “festival,” the enforcement mechanism is toothless.
No surprise then that three out of four Indians in a recent survey said they don’t believe brands will pass on the GST cuts. Ordinary people have learned the hard way: the government’s festival is their eyewash.
And all this while the Prime Minister invokes “swadeshi,” urging every shop to be decorated with indigenous goods. The irony is hard to miss. Walk into any Indian household or bazaar — from smartphones to kitchen appliances — imports dominate. To talk of self-reliance while households groan under foreign-brand dependency is less patriotism, more theatre.
The larger hypocrisy is that while small traders, households, and workers bear the weight of GST, big business lords thrive. Reliance, for instance, bought cheap Russian oil and reaped profits while the “savings” never reached consumers. International tirades over tariffs and oil purchases forced India’s hand, not compassion for the middle class.
The truth is simple: GST 2.0 is not a festival of savings, it is a festival of numbers. A desperate attempt to dress up fiscal compulsion as nationalist celebration. The rhetoric of “Atmanirbhar Bharat” is invoked even as global trade realities dictate policy.
Eight years of high slabs, cascading compliance, and revenue extraction cannot be erased by a single Sunday-night speech. Unless profiteering is curbed, unless transparency is enforced, GST 2.0 will be remembered not as reform, but as another round of eyewash.
References
1. “GST Collection Data,” Busy Accounting, 2025.
2. “GST Collections Rise 6.5% in August 2025,” DD News, September 2025.
3. “Why Govt May Revive Anti-Profiteering Authority Post GST Cuts,” Outlook Business, 2019.
4. “Anti-Profiteering Functions Moved to CCI,” Lexology, 2022.
5. “GST Rate Reduction Benefits Survey,” LocalCircles, September 2025.
6. “Goods and Services Tax 2.0,” Wikipedia, 2025 (estimates of revenue loss and consumption boost).
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