Indore, Sep 23 (PTI) Lower rates of Goods and Services Tax (GST) that took effect from Monday are expected to boost sales of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) by 25 to 30 per cent during the festival season between September and October, a senior official of Ashok Leyland said on Tuesday.

"The move to reduce GST rates is a historic tax reform of this century. We expect this to lead to a 25 to 30 per cent increase in LCV sales during the current festive season between September and October compared to the same period last year," Viplav Shah, head of LCV business at the Hinduja Group's flagship firm, told reporters here.

He said that LCV sales are expected to increase during the ongoing Navratri festival and Diwali.

The new two-slab GST (goods and services tax) structure of 5 per cent and 18 per cent has replaced the earlier four-rate duty regime following GST Council's sweeping reform aimed at boosting consumption across the country. This led to significant price cuts of most of the common-use items as well as small cars and commercial vehicles.

Shah further said that Ashok Leyland is expanding its operations in central India.

"Currently, we are ensuring that we have a service touch point every 50 kilometers to assist customers. We are striving to have a service touch point every 25 kilometers in the next one year," he said. PTI HWP MAS HVA

GST rate restructure expected to boost light commercial vehicle sales during the festival season and encourage consumption. The Goods and Services Tax reform consolidated multiple rates into a slabbed GST structure with lower and higher tiers, producing price reductions aimed at stimulating consumption; industry forecasts anticipate that the lower GST tier will materially increase light commercial vehicle demand during the festival season, prompting manufacturers to expand distribution and after sales service touchpoints to support higher sales volumes.