New Delhi, Oct. 20 -- It is to the government's credit that it didn't need to revive its anti-profiteering authority, disbanded in 2022, to have retail prices reflect last month's GST rate cuts.

On Saturday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that rate reductions had been passed on for dozens of items monitored by the Centre, with some prices dropping even more.

India's average monthly GST collections having stabilized around Rs.2 trillion, she added, made space for this consumption spur, which is now expected to attract investment and set off a virtuous cycle of both fuelling each other.

To see how this plays out, GST mop-ups will be tracked. While tax authorities expect a big boom in buying to keep the rate-cut impact minimal, ...