GST collection in March at record high at Rs.1.42 lakh crore

Goods and services tax (GST) collections touched an all-time high of over ₹1.42 lakh crore in March, boosted by improved economic activity as the Omicron wave waned as well as anti-evasion measures and rate rationalisation. Separately released data showed the Indian Railways achieved the highest ever loading in a month during March at 139.25 million tonnes (MT), providing more evidence of economic recovery. Data released on Thursday showed core sector growth at a four-month high of 5.8% in February.

With this, the Centre's GST revenue for FY22 amounted to Rs 6.19 lakh crore, exceeding the revised budget target of Rs 5.70 lakh crore.

"The record GST collections have also been aided by the strong sales activity of corporates in March, as they race to close the fiscal with high topline growth," said MS Mani, partner, Deloitte India.


'Expect Collections to Rise Further in April'
ICRA chief economist Aditi Nayar said, "We expect collections to rise further in the next month, benefitting from improved economic activity and year-end adjustments."

The GST collection for March is 15% higher than that in the same month last year and 46% up over March 2020. The previous record was Rs 1.40 lakh crore recorded in January 2022. The average monthly gross GST collection in the last quarter (January-March) stood at Rs 1.38 lakh crore, against Rs 1.10 lakh crore, Rs 1.15 lakh crore and 1.30 lakh crore in the first, second and third quarters, respectively.

"Coupled with economic recovery, anti-evasion activities, especially action against fake billers have been contributing to the enhanced GST," the finance ministry said in a statement. "The improvement in revenue has also been due to various rate rationalisation measures undertaken by the (GST) Council to correct inverted duty structure."

India reported 1,335 new Covid cases on Thursday and total active cases of 13,672. The sharp fall has allowed rapid normalisation of economic activity, boosting consumption. Most independent forecasts see the Indian economy growing over 8% in FY23.

GST Collections

Of the total collection, central GST was Rs 25,830 crore; state GST was Rs 32,378 crore; and integrated GST was Rs 74,470 crore, including Rs 39,131 crore collected on import of goods. During the month, GST revenue from the import of goods was 25% higher while the collection from domestic transactions, including import of services, was up 11% over March 2021. The cess collection in the month was Rs 9,417 crore, including Rs 981 crore on the import of goods