GORAKHPUR: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday hailed the implementation of next-generation Goods and Services Tax (GST) reforms, calling them a festival gift to the country.“Today is the first day of Sharadiya Navratri… and on this occasion, PM Narendra Modi gave the entire country a gift by making the biggest reforms in GST… Life-saving medicines have been made free from GST. GST on all other medicines has been cut to 5%… For farmers, the GST has been cut to 5% or 0%. It has been cut to 0% on students’ stationery. This will bring a new pace to the Indian economy, and the common consumers will celebrate the festivals with great fervour,” CM Yogi said.

He further added, “When the consumption increases, production will increase and new jobs will also be created… We established communication with the consumers, businessmen, and others and carried out awareness campaigns, and one slogan is rising from everywhere – ‘Ghati GST, Mila Uphaar, Dhanyawaad Modi Sarkaar’. Every citizen and consumer is celebrating their festivals, thanking PM Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman...”Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hailed the next generation Goods and Services Tax reforms, which came into force across the country on Monday, calling it a “double bonanza” given to the people during the season of festivals.“From today, next generation GST reforms have been implemented, and GST Bachat Utsav has started. On the occasion of festivals, the people have gotten a double bonanza,” the Prime Minister said while addressing a public event in Itanagar.During the event, PM Modi also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for various developmental projects worth Rs 5,100 crore. He laid the foundation stone for the Heo Hydro Electric Project (240 MW) and Tato-I Hydro Electric Project (186 MW) to be developed in the Siyom sub-basin of Arunachal Pradesh. He also laid the foundation stone of a state-of-the-art Convention Centre at Tawang, and multiple key infrastructure projects worth over Rs 1,290 crore, catering to various sectors, including connectivity, health, fire safety, and working women’s hostels, among others.The reform in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) structure was approved during the 56th meeting of the GST Council earlier this month. The previous four-slab system has been replaced with a streamlined two-slab regime of 5 per cent and 18 per cent. A separate 40 per cent slab has been retained for luxury and sin goods.This new framework is expected to ease compliance, reduce consumer prices, boost manufacturing, and support a wide range of industries, from agriculture to automobiles and from FMCG to renewable energy. It is also intended to lower the cost of living, strengthen MSMEs, widen the tax base, and drive inclusive growth.