Overview

• Speaking in Jharsuguda, Odisha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged the Himachal Pradesh Congress government imposed a new tax on cement after central rate cuts and said Congress-run states added levies on fuel that blunted earlier price reductions.
• Himachal BJP president Rajeev Bindal claimed the state has introduced nearly 10 cesses, raised VAT on diesel by Rs 7.50 per litre, and increased the additional goods tax on cement from Rs 7.50 to Rs 16.
• Bindal asserted these measures added an extra burden of about Rs 10,000 crore on residents and contrasted this with his claim of Rs 2 lakh crore in relief from the Centre’s GST reforms.
• The reported state tax changes and fiscal figures were presented by BJP leaders as allegations and were not independently verified in the cited reports.
• GST 2.0 took effect on September 22 with a simplified two-rate structure and lower levies on many items, and at the Odisha event Modi also unveiled BSNL’s indigenous 4G services and over 97,500 towers while launching development works.