Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on Friday (September 5, 2025) said the government would keep a watch to ensure the benefit of the substantial reductions in Goods & Services Tax (GST) rates was passed on to consumers. All sections of the industry had already given assurance in this regard, he said.

“This should be a collective effort. The government will fulfil its responsibility and the State governments should also keep a watch that this GST is passed on. All sections of the industry have already given me assurance…,” Mr. Goyal said during a press conference at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters here.

Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing “a historic and comprehensive reform that will transform the country’s economy to new heights”, Mr. Goyal said it was the first time since Independence that such a major change had been made in the tax structure, and a big relief given to the consumers, farmers, and industries. The simplification would facilitate ease of doing business, he said.

In the coming days, the new GST structure would lead to increase in demand, and the prices of a wide range of consumer goods would go down after September 22, the Minister said.

GST rationalisation was an outcome of about a year-long consultations among the stakeholders and had nothing to do with the U.S.’s decision to impose 50% tariff on Indian goods. Mr. Goyal said. In reply to a question, he said the Union government’s decisions were not guided by any election.

“During the 10 years of Congress rule, there was corruption, and no effective measures or transformational reforms were undertaken. Atal-ji (the late former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee) had imagined a single tax. All 30-35 different types of taxes, duties and levies should be combined to form a single tax. Atal-ji did not get elected in 2004. Then, the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government just kept making promises…,” Mr. Goyal said, responding to claims by the Congress and its allies on “delayed” rationalisation.

During the Congress-led rule, no State government had the confidence that the Centre would help them in case there was a loss or reduction in revenue due to the change, he said. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government had the courage to decide that after the introduction of GST, if the revenue of any State dipped, or revenue growth was less than 14%, the Union government would compensate it for the first five years.