TDP Applauds Centre’s Move to Streamline GST, Cut Taxes

Quick Summary

• The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) welcomed the Center’s decision to rationalize GST tax slabs announced during the 56th GST Council meeting on September 4, 2025.
• The reforms reduced the four GST tax slabs to two: 5% and 18%, with essential items moving to lower taxation brackets.
• Daily consumption goods like ultra-high temperature milk, paneer, and bread were exempted from GST to reduce costs of living.
• Thirty-three life-saving drugs and critical medicines for cancer will attract zero GST, while several other medicines have reduced rates of 5%.
• Personal life and health insurance policies were exempted from GST, along with education services.
• Reduced GST rates (from 12% to 5%) on farm equipment aim to assist farmers. Cement and steel now face an adjusted rate of 18%, down from a previous high of 28%, which is expected to boost infrastructure development.
• TDP Andhra Pradesh president Palla Srinivasa Rao lauded the reforms as a “Diwali gift,” emphasizing their benefits for poor households, middle-class families, farmers, public health affordability, and economic growth.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The rationalization of India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) structure marks a significant step toward simplifying indirect taxation while addressing socio-economic priorities. By narrowing slabs from four tiers to two-alongside strategic exemptions on daily essentials like milk products as well as integral sectors such as healthcare insurance-the move promises relief for vulnerable demographics including low-income households and farmers. Additionally, zero-GST status on critical drugs complements broader public health ambitions.

The reduction in tax rates for materials such as cement demonstrates dual objectives: easing housing costs for consumers while spurring infrastructure-driven economic growth.However balanced this reform might appear in stimulating consumption across sectors-farmers’ tools or real estate-it will need careful monitoring against long-term fiscal sustainability risks.

While political praise is expected given its social alignment themes (“Diwali gift”), whether it catalyzes deeper domestic market rejuvenation remains rooted in implementation specifics over time rather than rhetoric.

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