MUMBAI: India’s second-generation GST reforms will benefit consumers with lower prices and companies in terms of ease of doing business, said RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani. Calling the reforms progressive and a historic Diwali gift to citizens, Ambani said this will be a “big booster to consumption-driven growth”. “The GST rationalisation is a progressive step towards making products and services more affordable for consumers, easing operational complexity of doing business, lowering inflation and driving consumption growth across the retail sector,” said Ambani. India announced GST cuts on hundreds of consumer items to spur consumption. Ambani added that with GDP growth rate having reached 7.8% in the first quarter of this fiscal, the new reforms have the potential to accelerate the economy even further, raising the growth rate closer to double digits. His daughter and a director of RIL’s retail business, Isha Ambani, said Reliance Retail will “pass on the entire benefit of the new GST regime to customers from day one across all its consumption baskets”, adding that “our pledge is simple: whenever costs go down, our customers must get the benefit in their wallets”. The GST rationalisation, Isha said, brings relief to household budgets and creates opportunities for entrepreneurs. It is expected to impact every stakeholder in the retail value chain, including farmers, MSMEs, producers, suppliers, kiranas, and end-consumers, by “reducing costs, keeping inflation in check, improving efficiency, and enabling greater scale”, she said.
