Panaji, Oct 4 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday urged people to celebrate Diwali with swadeshi spirit by promoting Indian products and shunning foreign goods, asserting that such a collective resolve by 140 crore citizens would make India “mahan” (supreme).

He was addressing a public meeting near Panaji after inaugurating various development projects, including the ambitious ‘Mhaje Ghar’ scheme of the Goa government to give ownership rights to people.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Union minister and North Goa MP Shripad Naik and Rajya Sabha member Sadanand Shet Tanavade also attended the event.

Shah said on Navaratri eve, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reduced the GST (Goods and Services Tax) on 395 products by one-third, and the move is benefiting the citizens in a big way.

“GST has been reduced to nil on several food items. It has been reduced to five per cent on daily essentials,” the Union minister said.

Since India’s independence, no one had dared to introduce such a cut in sales tax or GST, something that Prime Minister Modi has managed to achieve, he said.

“That is why this Deepavali will be auspicious for all Indians,” he said.

Shah said the PM has also made a swadeshi pitch. “This Deepavali, we have to resolve that not a single foreign item would be used unless it is absolutely necessary,” he said.

The senior BJP leader said that if India’s 140 crore citizens resolve to use only swadeshi products and traders stock Indian goods in their stores and malls, the nation can achieve its dream of becoming mahan in no time.

“There is nothing bigger than being self-sufficient,” he said.

Shah said India can also address unemployment by giving momentum to its economy through ‘Make in India’ and by inviting people from across the world to manufacture in the country. PTI RPS NR

Goods and Services Tax cut prompts national call for swadeshi consumption and domestic manufacturing momentum. The article links a government Goods and Services Tax reduction-bringing several food items to nil and lowering rates on daily essentials-to a public appeal for swadeshi consumption. Citizens and traders are urged to prioritise Indian-made products, and the piece frames expanded domestic procurement and manufacturing under Make in India as a route to greater self-sufficiency and economic momentum, noting concurrent inaugurations of development projects as context.