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GST Reform Debate Puts Auto Demand in Focus

18Aug

By Pallab BhattacharyaNo Comments

News Update

GST Reform Debate Puts Auto Demand in Focus

India’s finance ministry is weighing a cut in Goods and Services Tax (GST) on small cars and insurance premiums, in a move aimed at boosting consumption but with complex knock-on effects for energy demand. Officials said the proposal reflects an attempt to revive auto sales, which remain subdued compared with pre-pandemic levels. If implemented, the measure could encourage middle-class buyers to bring forward purchases, bolstering an industry that employs millions. Yet energy economists caution that stimulating car sales could add to India’s already steep fuel demand trajectory. Road transport accounts for nearly 40 per cent of petroleum product consumption, and any surge in vehicle numbers would deepen the country’s reliance on imported crude. Insurers, meanwhile, are lobbying fo...

India-US Tariffs Stand-off: Why Swadeshi 2.0 Can’t Wait

Newscript, August 11, 2025 By Pallab Bhattacharya Donald Trump’s latest tariff strike on Indian goods is less a trade adjustment than an economic ambush. An extra 25 percentage points, piled on top of existing duties, takes the levy to a bruising 50 per cent on most affected products. Officially, the justification is India’s continued purchase of Russian crude. Unofficially, it is about leverage — a show of power wrapped in the flag of America First. As Dr Ajit Ranade, economist and vice-chancellor of the Gokhale Institute, observes: “These are not pure trade measures. They are geopolitical tools aimed at forcing policy alignment.” The Alaska Distraction The Trump–Putin encounter in Alaska on 15 August will dominate the news cycle. If Trump can return from the meeting claiming “...

The Tariff That Struck a Nerve: India–US Trade in Turmoil

Newscript, August 5, 2025 By Pallab Bhattacharya Introduction A silence hung over India’s financial markets the morning after President Donald Trump’s announcement. Then came the tremor. Starting August 7, Indian exports to the United States—worth nearly $87 billion—will be slapped with a blanket 25% tariff, a fourfold jump from the average 2024 rate. From artisanal shawls in Kashmir to iPhones assembled in Chennai, the imposition cuts across every sector of India's export machinery. What’s at stake is not just commerce—but a hard-won strategic equation that has defined India–US relations for over three decades. This is not the first time trade has been weaponised by Washington. But for India, the timing is unprecedented. Just as it emerged as a China+1 manufacturi...