Key Points

"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 id 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.

While he congratulated the people of the state in receiving the developmental projects, he further attacked the Congress for having ignored the North East region for many years.

"Generally, the first rays of the sun fall on Arunachal Pradesh, but years have passed in trying to get the rays of development here. I have come here before 2014 too, stayed along with you. Nature has given Arunachal so much, the land, the people, capability, there is so much. But the people who ran the country from Delhi ignored Arunachal. The Congress thought that Arunachal has so few people, there is only 2 Lok Sabha seats, so what attention will they give?" he said.

Contrasting it with the Bharatiya Janata Party's governance style, the Prime Minister said that while visits of Congress ministers to northeast were few and far in between, the current ministers have visited the region more than 800 times, with him visiting the region multiple times as Prime Minister too.

"We have increased the budget for northeast a lot. We have made last-mile connectivity and last-mile delivery the identity of our government. We also made sure that the government will not be run from just sitting in Delhi. Now, officers and ministers have to come to Northeast and, stay at least overnight. During Congress rule, a minister used to come just once in two months, but now more ministers have come more than 800 times to northeast," he added.

Prior to his address, he interacted with local entrepreneurs and discussed the benefits of the GST rate rationalisation.

While attending a 'GST Bachat Utsav' event in Itanagar, the Prime Minister met with various artisans, industry leaders in the state. He met with entrepreneurs who are selling local goods, to packaged milk and food items, and highlighted the 'swadeshi' products of the country.

He also handed them placards of 'Garv se Kaho Yeh Swadeshi Hai'. The shopkeepers were very happy on receiving them and said that they would place these placards on their shops.

Meanwhile, 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, and is intended to lower the cost of living, strengthen MSMEs, widen the tax base, and drive inclusive growth.

- ANI