The Centre on Saturday said the benefits of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms are reaching consumers through lower prices and higher consumption across sectors.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, addressing a news conference on the “GST Bachat Utsav” along with commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, presented what she called a “report card” on how GST 2.0 has boosted consumer sentiment and sales ahead of Diwali.

The revamped GST structure, which came into effect on September 22, 2025 has led to price reductions in 375 items, ranging from toothpaste and shampoo to cars and televisions.

The GST Council had approved the overhaul on September 3, introducing a simplified two-rate system of 5 and 18 per cent in place of the earlier four-rate structure of 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent.

The finance minister said 99 per cent of daily-use items are now cheaper under the new regime.

Sitharaman said the government has been monitoring 54 essential items to ensure that the benefits of the tax cuts are passed on to consumers.

“We found that in every one of them, the tax benefit due to the GST reforms has been passed to the end consumer. The Prime Minister’s Diwali gift has been delivered,” she said.

She added that in some cases, businesses had passed on higher-than-expected benefits to consumers.

“GST rate reduction has resulted in an increase in purchases. The consumption drive will continue,” Sitharaman said, noting that the lower rates have already boosted sales in automobiles, electronics, and FMCG sectors.

The finance minister informed that the consumer affairs department has received 3,169 complaints regarding non-reduction in prices commensurate with GST cuts, of which 3,075 have been forwarded to nodal officers in the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).

94 complaints have been resolved so far. To streamline the process, the department will soon enable a new functionality on the grievance reporting portal to forward complaints directly to chief commissioners of respective zones.

Highlighting the consumption boom, Sitharaman said sales of air conditioners doubled on the first day of GST 2.0’s implementation, while television sales rose by 30–35 per cent.

She also pointed to a strong performance in the automobile sector, where “three-wheeler dispatches rose 5.5 per cent year-on-year, two-wheeler sales reached 21.6 lakh units, and passenger vehicle dispatches stood at 3.72 lakh in September.”

Hero MotoCorp, she added, recorded its highest-ever monthly sales during the month.

Goyal said the festive season witnessed record-breaking sales across sectors.

“During Navratri, Maruti Suzuki sold 1.65 lakh cars in the first eight days. Mahindra’s sales increased by 60 per cent, and Tata sold over 50,000 vehicles. The electronics sector has also broken all records,” he said.

Calling the GST overhaul the biggest reform since Independence, Goyal said India’s growth momentum remains strong despite global challenges.

“Amid such a volatile international scenario, the pace of India’s growth is so strong that even the IMF had to revise its growth forecast to 6.6 per cent. In the first quarter, we saw a historic growth of 7.8 per cent this year,” he said.

Vaishnaw said the GST reforms have spurred a sharp rise in electronics consumption and manufacturing.

“There has been a 25 per cent increase in the sale of electronics this year. Due to the GST reforms, food prices are decreasing, and the rising demand for electronics is directly benefiting the manufacturing industry,” he said, predicting an additional electronic consumption worth Rs 20 lakh crore this year.

Sitharaman added that the GST 2.0 reforms will inject Rs 2 lakh crore into the economy by increasing disposable income and fuelling household consumption.

She also underlined the government’s efforts to contain inflation and maintain fiscal stability.

“The Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of India, and the Monetary Fiscal Policy are taking consistent steps to ensure that India is not affected by inflation. Last month, the lowest inflation rate in eight years was 1.5 per cent. We all saw that after 17–18 years, S&P revised India’s rating and raised it one notch, maintaining a stable outlook,” she said.

The ministers said the “GST Bachat Utsav” marks the success of GST 2.0 in simplifying taxation, boosting consumer spending, and strengthening the manufacturing ecosystem during the festive season.