Network18 is set to host 'Reforms Reloaded 2025' in Delhi on September 22, 2025, a summit focused on unlocking the next phase of India's economic growth. This high-impact event will convene policymakers, industry leaders, and global experts to examine the government's latest GST reforms, share perspectives on India's broader economic roadmap, and explore strategies for the nation's next big leap.

Spotlighting Key Economic Drivers

The summit will spotlight critical elements such as GST 2.0, Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance), Make in India, and India's Vision 2030. Focused industry dialogues will span manufacturing, e-commerce, services, hospitality, and other key sectors. Discussions will also highlight governance, public relief, and international cooperation as India aims to solidify its position as one of the fastest-growing major economies.

GST 2.0: A Catalyst for Economic Transformation

The Goods and Services Tax (GST), since its introduction on July 1, 2017, has been India's most significant indirect tax reform since independence. By unifying multiple central and state taxes into a single system, GST has created a common national market, reduced tax cascading, simplified compliance, and improved transparency. The rollout of GST 2.0, which officially came into effect on September 22, 2025, is expected to reshape India's tax ecosystem and accelerate growth.

Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran has called GST 2.0 "a landmark reform" that will significantly boost domestic demand and GDP growth. He projects that India's FY26 GDP growth will tend towards the upper end of the 6.3–6.8 percent range following these reforms, emphasizing the multiplier impact of indirect tax concessions combined with measures announced in the Union Budget.

Key Changes in GST Reforms 2025

The GST reforms introduced in September 2025 represent a landmark step in reshaping India's taxation system. By simplifying tax structures and reducing rates across key industries, these reforms aim to create an enabling environment for entrepreneurship, job creation, and affordable living.

The latest reforms mark a major simplification of the GST structure, shifting to a two-slab system of 5% and 18%, effectively removing the earlier 12% and 28% rates to make taxation more transparent and easier to follow. A special 40% slab will be levied on sin and luxury goods.

Impact on Various Sectors

• Youth Empowerment: GST on two-wheelers (≤350cc) and small cars has been cut from 28% to 18%, enhancing youth mobility. Essential learning materials like pencils, erasers, and exercise books are now GST-free to ease education costs, while GST on gyms/fitness centers has been slashed from 18% to 5%, making fitness more affordable.
• Affordable Healthcare: Healthcare is made more affordable with GST on medicines cut to 5% or Nil, and health insurance is exempted from GST.
• Support for MSMEs: GST on leather, footwear, textiles, handicrafts, and toys has been reduced to 5% to boost youth-led MSMEs and exports.
• Agriculture: Farm machinery and irrigation equipment now have a reduced GST rate of 5%, lowering farming costs.
• Housing and Infrastructure: GST on cement has been reduced from 28% to 18%, lowering housing and infrastructure costs.

Government Perspective

Arunish Chawla, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), has underlined how the government has managed a balanced approach to support the economy with GST reforms, tax relief, and consistent public investment. He noted that 33 percent of the year's public investment target had already been achieved by July, and despite foreign institutional investors pulling out ₹1 lakh crore between January and August, domestic institutional investors had invested ₹5 lakh crore, demonstrating the "democratization of capital markets".

A Catalyst for Growth

Through power-packed sessions and candid conversations, Reforms Reloaded 2025 aims to underscore optimism about India's reform trajectory. The discussions are expected to reinforce GST 2.0 as a catalyst for building a competitive, consumption-driven economy, strengthening GDP numbers and enhancing India's credibility on the global economic map.