Consumer and Internet
The Unopened GST Diwali Hamper Creates Hurdles For The Season Of Discounting
02 Sep 2025
Weeks before Prime Minister Narendra Modi collapsed the four Goods and Services Tax (GST) slabs into two, many retailers were hoping to offload piled-up inventory through discounts. The government’s promise of GST rationalisation with details that are expected to come around Diwali — a rollout only in September — has put these plans in disarray.
Take autos, for example. Dealers were offering discounts of Rs 40,000 to Rs 1 lakh on older passenger vehicles models to move inventory, before the announcement. This was especially after July auto sales fell by 4.3%, as per FADA (Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations). Now, of course, most analysts are questioning the quantum of discounting.
Ideally, the GST reduction benefits have to be passed on to the customer. Yet, there is more haze than clarity without the final brass tacks. At the very least, some of these originally intended discounts could also be rolled back — even as inventory for slow-moving models accumulates with dealers.Weeks before Prime Minister Narendra Modi collapsed the four Goods and Services Tax (GST) slabs into two, many retailers were hoping to offload piled-up inventory through discounts. The government’s promise of GST rationalisation with details that are expected to come around Diwali — a rollout only in September — has put these plans in disarray.
Take autos, for example. Dealers were offering discounts of Rs 40,000 to Rs 1 lakh on older passenger vehicles models to move inventory, before the announcement. This was especially after July auto sales fell by 4.3%, as per FADA (Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations). Now, of course, most analysts are questioning the quantum of discounting.
Ideally, the GST reduction benefits have to be passed on to the customer. Yet, there is more haze than clarity without the final brass tacks. At the very least, some of these originally intended discounts could also be rolled back — even as inventory for slow-moving models accumulates with dealers.Weeks before Prime Minister Narendra Modi collapsed the four Goods and Services Tax (GST) slabs into two, many retailers were hoping to offload piled-up inventory through discounts. The government’s promise of GST rationalisation with details that are expected to come around Diwali — a rollout only in September — has put these plans in disarray.
Take autos, for example. Dealers were offering discounts of Rs 40,000 to Rs 1 lakh on older passenger vehicles models to move inventory, before the announcement. This was especially after July auto sales fell by 4.3%, as per FADA (Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations). Now, of course, most analysts are questioning the quantum of discounting.
Ideally, the GST reduction benefits have to be passed on to the customer. Yet, there is more haze than clarity without the final brass tacks. At the very least, some of these originally intended discounts could also be rolled back — even as inventory for slow-moving models accumulates with dealers.Weeks before Prime Minister Narendra Modi collapsed the four Goods and Services Tax (GST) slabs into two, many retailers were hoping to offload piled-up inventory through discounts. The government’s promise of GST rationalisation with details that are expected to come around Diwali — a rollout only in September — has put these plans in disarray.
Take autos, for example. Dealers were offering discounts of Rs 40,000 to Rs 1 lakh on older passenger vehicles models to move inventory, before the announcement. This was especially after July auto sales fell by 4.3%, as per FADA (Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations). Now, of course, most analysts are questioning the quantum of discounting.
Ideally, the GST reduction benefits have to be passed on to the customer. Yet, there is more haze than clarity without the final brass tacks. At the very least, some of these originally intended discounts could also be rolled back — even as inventory for slow-moving models accumulates with dealers.