GST 2.0 Boosts Festive Spending In Rural India, Cars-Electronics & Big-Ticket Items See Record Demand This Navratri

Mumbai: This Navratri season, rural India is shopping in full swing. From cars and bikes to televisions and smartphones, people in villages and small towns are buying more than ever before. Thanks to GST 2.0 reforms, price cuts, good monsoons, and festive discounts, spending in rural areas is at an all-time high.

Cars, Bikes & Tractors in High Demand

Automobile companies like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, and Hyundai have reported huge spikes in bookings from rural areas. In some cases, rural bookings have doubled or grown by over 100 percent compared to the period before GST cuts.

- Maruti’s bookings from outside top 100 cities have nearly doubled.

- Tata Motors said booking rates doubled after GST cuts.

- Hyundai saw rural bookings grow by 133 percent during Navratri.

Even tractor sales are booming, expected to rise 30–40 percent this September, thanks to strong harvests and good rains.

Two-wheelers, which were seeing slow sales earlier this year, are now picking up speed. Hero MotoCorp said that 55 percent of their two-wheeler sales come from rural India. They expect around 7 percent growth in FY26.

GST Cuts Lower Prices, Boost Savings

Effective September 22, the government reduced GST on small cars (under 4 metres with petrol/CNG/LPG engines up to 1200cc or diesel up to 1500cc) from 29–31 percent to just 18 percent.

This means buyers can now save 8.5–9.9 percent on car prices. When combined with festive offers, total savings reach 12–15 percent, making it the best time to buy.

E-Commerce Booms in Small Towns

Online platforms like Amazon and Flipkart report that smaller towns are buying more than metros during the festive sales. Products like smart TVs, QLED TVs, smartphones above Rs 20,000, beauty products, and even premium watches are seeing big demand.

- TV sales have doubled in rural markets.

- Mini-LED TVs, lab-grown diamonds, and South Korean beauty products are also trending.

- Amazon said sales of premium smartphones and watches have grown significantly in smaller cities.

Consumers Rushing Before Stocks Run Out

Because dispatches were low in early September, stock is limited, and industry experts are urging rural buyers to make purchases quickly to get deliveries during their preferred mahurat (auspicious timing).

Clothes Sales Picking Up Too

Although the focus is more on big-ticket items, apparel sales have also started to rise. V-Mart Retail said the fashion market is slowly picking up but isn’t the main attraction yet.

As Dussehra approaches, rural demand is expected to rise even more. Industry leaders say this may be one of the strongest festive seasons in recent years.