Ek teer kai nishaan: Nilesh Shah of Kotak Mutual Fund on how GST 2.0 is step in right direction

Nilesh Shah, Managing Director of Kotak Mutual Fund, welcomed the government’s latest GST announcement as a step in the right direction, calling it ek teer kai nishaan (one arrow, many targets).

According to Shah, the move will lower inflation, increase growth, boost consumer sentiment, and not disturb the path of fiscal consolidation. This single reform, he added, will enhance ease of doing business and partially cushion the adverse effects of tariffs.

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“The GST slab and rate rationalisation, as well as process improvement, is a step in the right direction. GST slab consolidation and rate rationalisation is ek teer kai nishaan. The latest GST announcement lowers inflation, increases growth, boosts consumer sentiment, doesn’t disturb the path of fiscal consolidation, improves ease of doing business, and partially offsets the adverse effects of tariffs,” Shah said.

The Kotak Mutual Fund MD also noted that GST slab and rate rationalisation, along with process improvement, demonstrates the government’s urgency and intent to strengthen the GST framework.

“The Diwali gift of Rs 48,000 crore is fiscally manageable. Completing a two-day GST Council meeting in one day shows the urgency. While leakages and fraud in GST need to be dealt with an iron hand, process improvement should be a continuous affair with a feedback loop,” said Shah.

He further highlighted challenges posed by misallocation of savings through F&O speculation and Ponzi schemes, which he said are making Indians “quick-money addicts,” costing more than four times the GST benefit.

On the global front, Shah believes GST rationalisation will partially help offset the adverse impact of US tariffs in the quarters to come.

Nilesh Shah also posted on social media platform X that while the leakages and fraud of GST needs to be dealt with iron hand, the process improvement should be a continuous affair with the feedback loop.

“Completing two days of the GST council meeting in one day does show the urgency. While the leakages and fraud of GST needs to be dealt with iron hand, process improvement should be a continuous affair with feedback loop,” Shah posted on X.


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The 56th GST Council meeting, led by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on September 3, set the stage for a major revamp of India’s indirect tax framework.

The changes revised rates will come into effect from September 22, 2025 according to the official communication by the council under the chairpersonship of Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

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