By DC Correspondent

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NELLORE: The next generation of GST reforms under the ‘Super GST – Super Savings’ initiative will play a crucial role in realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Viksit Bharat,” said Lanka Dinakar, chairman of the Twenty Point Programme Implementation, while addressing a seminar on GST reforms in Nellore on Sunday. Dinakar emphasised that GST 2.0 would enhance the purchasing power of 90 per cent of Indian households, reduce the cost of essential commodities and services, and increase consumer savings, particularly ahead of the Dasara and Diwali festivals. He urged traders to pass on the benefits of tax reductions to consumers and stressed that GST officials and the Consumer Commission must safeguard the interests of poor and middle-class families. He welcomed the GST Council’s recent decision to rationalise tax slabs from four categories (5%, 12%, 18%, 28%) to two (5% and 18%), effective September 22. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for the reform, while also acknowledging Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu for making Andhra Pradesh the first state assembly to pass a resolution supporting GST reforms. Pointing to immediate impacts, Dinakar cited that over 30,000 Maruti small cars were sold on the very first day of the new tax rates. He noted that insurance premiums, food items, life-saving medicines, educational books, tractors and cement would all become cheaper under the revised GST structure. Officials have been instructed to prepare charts showcasing price reductions in essential items such as milk, curd and ghee for public awareness. Dinakar also countered opposition criticism, highlighting how rationalised tax collections have funded major national development initiatives, from doubling the defence budget and expanding LPG connections, to large-scale electrification, rural housing, free COVID vaccinations, infrastructure upgrades, farmer subsidies and direct transfers to beneficiaries through Jan Dhan accounts. He underlined that GST reforms were not just about taxation but about enabling Ease of Doing Business and ensuring affordable access to essential goods and services for citizens. The seminar, held at PSK Inn, Nellore, was jointly organised by the Commercial Taxes Department, the Nellore Branch of Chartered Accountants, and the Nellore Tax Bar Association. It was attended by RTC regional chairman Sannapareddy Suresh Reddy, Commercial Taxes Joint Commissioner Kiran Kumar, Additional Commissioner Satya Prakash, Chartered Accountants Association president Haima Hasini, and Tax Bar Association president Subbarao.