ITC fraud worth Rs 74,782 crore detected in FY26; Maharashtra, Gujarat lead

Central GST officers detected 30,162 cases of input tax credit (ITC) fraud involving Rs 74,782 crore in 2025-26, with Maharashtra and Gujarat accounting for the highest number of cases, the government informed Parliament on Tuesday.

Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said Maharashtra recorded 9,629 cases involving fraud worth Rs 18,320 crore, while Gujarat reported 12,511 cases involving Rs 12,633 crore. A total of 358 people were arrested during the financial year.

"These cases of ITC fraud have been detected across diverse sectors dealing in both goods and services, including iron & steel, textiles, plastics, paper products, plywood, cement, copper and various service sectors such as works contract service, manpower supply services, real estate services etc," Chaudhary said in a written reply.


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The number and value of detected fraud cases have risen sharply over the past three years. In 2024-25, GST officers detected 15,283 cases involving Rs 58,773 crore, leading to 178 arrests. In 2023-24, authorities uncovered 9,190 cases involving Rs 36,373 crore, with 182 people arrested.

The minister also shared details of fake GST registrations obtained using forged PAN and Aadhaar cards.

According to the reply, authorities detected 1,517 fake GST registrations in FY26 that were created using forged identity documents. These entities were involved in ITC fraud worth Rs 9,940 crore. During the year, 60 people were arrested, while seven accused remain absconding.

In comparison, 3,977 fake GST registrations linked to ITC fraud of Rs 13,109 crore were detected in FY25, while 5,699 such registrations involving Rs 15,085 crore were identified in FY24.

The government did not specify the sectors in which the fake registrations were concentrated but said the broader ITC fraud cases spanned manufacturing as well as service industries.