New Delhi [India], September 26 (ANI): Americans will be the first to be affected, said Niranjan Hiranandani, Founder and Chairman of the Hiranandani Group on Friday, in response to U.S. President Donald J. Trump's announcement of a 100 per cent tariff on branded and patented pharmaceutical products.

Speaking exclusively to ANI, Hiranandani said, 'First of all, you have to understand the Americans will be impacted first. So if you are putting tax on medicines, the medicines will become more expensive in America. So I think America will be the first to be affected. Yes, we will be affected because we do sales to America. We sell steel, we sell other equipment, we sell pharmaceuticals, all these things. So the companies which are doing this business will obviously be affected. But you have to remember, if the Prime Minister is working towards Atma Nirbhar Bharat, this challenge is an opportunity.'

The U.S. tariff, set to take effect on October 1, 2025, aims to encourage companies to establish manufacturing units within the country. Hiranandani said India should treat the challenge as an opportunity for long-term growth. 'We are talking about 2030, we are talking about 2047. When such challenges are thrown by the United States of America, by its president, Mr. Trump, obviously India should treat it as an opportunity.'

As per Hiranandani, the country's own demographics are growing, as well as those of other alternative countries, which are there for exports. 'So I think Atma Nirbhar Bharat, Viksit Bharat will not be in 2030 or 2047, it will be earlier than that. So I think, in a way, it's good. Trump is pushing us to become Atma Nirbhar faster. All this is a future opportunity for India and I'm not happy with the tariff. Obviously, nobody wants that tariff to be there because we like international trade, but if they want to throw a challenge to India, we will meet it,' he said.

Speaking on the recent GST cuts, Hiranandani said that they will boost the economy and enhance purchasing power. 'Two things will happen. The prices of commodities will come down. The second, there will be more purchasing power, which will be there with the people, because there will be residual amounts. So the multiplier effect of the growth of the economy, which is already running at 7.8 per cent GDP growth, I think, will move beyond 8-9. And if we move everything correctly, by mid of 2026, you will see for the first time in the world a double-digit GDP growth for Bharat, India.'

On the real estate sector, Hiranandani said the GST reduction will directly benefit construction and affordable housing. Most of the products had the GST rate of 28 per cent. Now, most products have been reduced by 18 per cent, which means that cement, steel, bricks, and paints, all the inputs that go into the construction of a house, are also coming down. This will have a direct impact on the real estate industry.

'The impact on affordable housing will be much more. Because in the case of high-cost housing, land and other components and other costs, which government taxes are there, are a bigger component, but in the affordable housing segment, the construction cost is a big cost, and that benefit definitely goes to the buyer, which will come up,' he noted. (ANI)