Indian government informed Parliament that it spent exactly ₹88.74 crore on an extensive advertising campaign for the ‘GST Bachat Utsav’ (GST Savings Festival).
Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, provided this figure in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, clarifying that the expenditure was aimed at spreading awareness about the sweeping tax rate rationalizations that took effect on September 22, 2025.
The “Bachat Utsav” Campaign Details
The campaign was launched following the 56th GST Council meeting to publicize what Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed “next-generation GST reforms.”
- Scope of Reductions: The government slashed tax rates on approximately 375 items, simplifying the structure into primarily two tiers: 5% and 18%.
- Impacted Categories: The “savings festival” covered everything from kitchen staples and medicines to electronics, two-wheelers (up to 350cc), and automobiles.
- Media Mix: The ₹88.74 crore budget covered a massive publicity blitz across print media, social media, and outdoor hoardings. Earlier RTI filings in January 2026 had already indicated that over ₹4.76 crore was spent on print ads alone in the first 55 days of the campaign.
Government Monitoring & Compliance
To ensure that the ₹88.74 crore investment in advertising translated into actual savings for citizens, the Minister highlighted ongoing enforcement measures:
| Enforcement Tool | Purpose |
| CBIC Monitoring | The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs is tracking pre- and post-September 2025 prices of packaged food and medicines. |
| Trade Meetings | The government held direct consultations with trade associations to ensure members passed rate-cut benefits to end consumers. |
| Grievance Portals | Consumers were encouraged to use the National Consumer Helpline or the INGRAM portal to report businesses not reflecting the new lower GST rates on bills. |
Context: The GST 2.0 Shift
The GST Bachat Utsav is part of the broader GST 2.0 initiative. The Prime Minister has estimated that the combination of these GST reductions and the 2025 income tax relief (making income up to ₹12 lakh tax-free) has resulted in total annual savings exceeding ₹2.5 lakh crore for Indian households.
