New Delhi, September 22 — Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged Indians to embrace swadeshi products during the festive season, linking the country’s recent GST cuts with the national goal of building a “Viksit Bharat” by 2047.
In a letter posted on X, Modi said the new Goods and Services Tax structure would put an estimated Rs 2.5 lakh crore of savings annually into the hands of people. He appealed to both buyers and sellers to channel these benefits into strengthening India’s manufacturing base.
“Let us proudly say what we buy is Swadeshi. Let us proudly say what we sell is Swadeshi,” Modi wrote, while underlining that the new GST regime would operate on only two slabs — 5 percent and 18 percent.
The prime minister said GST reforms, combined with income tax relief announced earlier in the budget, will provide “direct benefits for every section of society—farmers, women, youth, poor, middle class, traders and MSMEs.” He added that the measures would boost investments, accelerate state-level development and create opportunities across industries.
Tracing the tax’s evolution, Modi recalled that GST’s rollout in 2017 “was a turning point in freeing our citizens and businesses from the web of multiple taxes.” He said the GST Council, with the involvement of both the Centre and states, had taken “many pro-people decisions,” and the latest reforms would go further by simplifying compliance, lowering prices and reducing the tax burden.
Small industries, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers and the MSME sector stand to gain the most, Modi said, as the changes will translate into “Ease of Doing Business, Ease of Compliance, lower taxes, lower prices, better sales, less burden and growth of opportunities.”
The prime minister linked the reforms to a broader vision of self-reliance. “Walking on the path of self-reliance is imperative,” he noted. “These reforms strengthen our local manufacturing base, paving the way towards Atmanirbhar Bharat.”
Modi highlighted that several essentials such as food, medicines, soap, toothpaste and insurance will either become tax-free or fall under the lowest 5 percent slab. Goods earlier taxed at 12 percent have largely shifted down to 5 percent, he said.
“It is greatly heartening to see various shopkeepers and traders putting up boards which indicate changes pre reforms and post reforms,” Modi wrote, calling the shift an indication of growing awareness.
He also pointed to social gains achieved in the past decade. “The lifting of 25 crore people above the poverty line has led to a new aspirational neo-middle class,” he said, adding that recent income tax cuts have left the middle class with more disposable income. The zero-tax threshold has now been extended to annual income up to Rs 12 lakh, he noted.
“These measures will reduce household expenses and make it easier to fulfil aspirations such as building a home, purchasing a vehicle, buying appliances, eating out or planning a family vacation,” Modi said.
He urged citizens to actively participate in what he described as the “GST Savings Festival” and extended greetings on the first day of Navratri.
