Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday claimed that the impact of GST rate cuts on various commodities was being offset by rising inflation, arguing that the measures had not resulted in a broad-based increase in consumption.
In a post on X, the Congress general secretary in charge of communications said the GST rate cuts announced in September 2025 had been projected as a major boost to the economy. While acknowledging that the cuts were overdue, he said describing them as a transformative measure was an exaggeration.
Ramesh claimed that the impact of the rate reductions on consumption had been mixed, with automobile sales benefiting while apparel sales did not show a similar response.
“The effect of GST rate cuts on various commodities is being neutralised by galloping inflation,” Ramesh said, adding that prices of several consumer goods had returned close to their pre-GST cut levels within a year without a significant increase in consumption.
He also questioned the broader picture of India’s economic growth, saying headline quarterly GDP figures could create a positive impression while several challenges remained.
According to Ramesh, consumption is not buoyant across all income groups, private investment is not witnessing a broad-based boom and real wages are declining. These are his political and economic assessments.
Meanwhile, government data showed that India’s gross GST collections rose 14.8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,99,853 crore in August 2026, compared with Rs 1,74,116 crore in August 2025.
GST revenue from imports increased 29 per cent to Rs 62,604 crore, while domestic GST collections rose 9.3 per cent to Rs 1,37,249 crore, from Rs 1,25,570 crore a year earlier.
August’s overall GST collections were, however, lower than the Rs 2.11 lakh crore recorded in July 2026.
The latest GST figures indicate continued growth in tax collections, while Ramesh’s comments focused on whether lower GST rates have translated into sustained reductions in consumer prices and stronger demand.