Joint Press Conference Highlights GST Savings Campaign (Bachat Utsav)

Joint Press Conference Highlights GST Savings Campaign (Bachat Utsav)

The article reports on a joint press conference held in New Delhi by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Railways and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. The conference was organized to promote the GST Bachat Utsav (GST Savings Festival), a campaign highlighting the benefits of the recent GST rate rationalization.

Key Focus of the Campaign

• Highlighting Consumer Savings: The primary objective of the “Bachat Utsav” campaign is to quantify and communicate the direct financial savings that the common citizen is realizing due to the recent GST rate cuts (GST 2.0). The Ministers sought to demonstrate how the tax reductions have lowered the retail prices of numerous daily essentials, consumer durables, and services.
• Encouraging Price Transmission: The joint briefing underscored the government’s push to ensure that businesses, manufacturers, and retailers pass on the full benefit of the tax cuts to the end consumer, aligning with the anti-profiteering goals of the reforms.
• Boosting Market Sentiment: By featuring multiple senior Ministers, the event aimed to collectively boost market and consumer sentiment, encouraging festive spending by emphasizing the increased affordability of goods and services.

Significance of the Joint Briefing

The presence of Ministers from Finance, Commerce, and IT departments signaled that the GST reforms are viewed as a comprehensive strategy involving not just tax administration but also trade promotion and digital empowerment for the entire economy.