Thanks to GST high, TVs may beat smartphones in festive season

Stakeholders expect a boost to the electronics and appliances market during the annual sales season

- Shouvik Das

Large screens may draw eyeballs away from their pocket-sized rivals this festive season—all thanks to a timely goods and services tax (GST) break.

GST Council on Wednesday, as part of the indirect tax overhaul, cut the levy on televisions of 32 inches and above by 10 percentage points to 18% while leaving smartphones—India's largest electronics segment—in the same slab, ignoring the industry's plea for the lowest tax rate of 5%.

Nonetheless, industry stakeholders expect a boost to the entire electronics and appliances market during the country's eagerly awaited annual sales season.

Manish Sharma, India chairman of Japan-headquartered Panasonic Life Solutions, said the GST reform is good for the brand as "products that were earlier aspirational are now more accessible, allowing a larger section of households to upgrade".

He added that the GST cut on appliances, coupled with the income tax revision this fiscal, may "significantly boost disposable incomes and consumer sentiment" and "drive higher demand across both urban and emerging markets".