India’s gross GST revenues hit their second-highest level in March. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters
India’ gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues hit their second highest level of ₹1,78,484 crore in March, even as the growth rate in tax collections slowed to 11.5% from 12.5% in February. This lifted the total tally from the indirect tax for 2023-24 to a little over ₹20.18 lakh crore, reflecting an 11.64% growth from the previous year‘s kitty.
Net GST revenues, after accounting for refunds, grew at a faster pace of 18.4% in March to touch ₹1.65 lakh crore, compared with February when they had grown 13.6% to ₹1.51 lakh crore. For the full financial year, net GST revenues were ₹18.01 lakh crore, marking a 13.4% year-on-year growth.
“The average monthly collection for this fiscal year stands at ₹1.68 lakh crore, surpassing the previous year’s average of ₹1.5 lakh crore,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement, attributing last month’s surge in inflows to “a significant rise in GST collection from domestic transactions”.
Gross revenues from domestic transactions (which typically include taxes on services imports) grew 17.6% in March, compared with a 13.9% rise in February. While the Finance Ministry did not share the growth trajectory for revenues from goods imports, a calculation by The Hindu indicates it shrank about 5% in March, after recording an 8.5% uptick in February.
On a sequential basis, gross GST revenues were up 6% in March, while net revenues rose 9.3% from February. Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) receipts accounted for a bulk of the receipts in March at ₹87,947 crore, followed by State GST collections of ₹43,746 crore and Central GST of ₹34,532 crore.
GST Compensation Cess receipts stood at ₹12,259 crore, reckoned to be the third highest monthly collection so far.
“The Central Government settled ₹43,264 crore to CGST and ₹37,704 crore to SGST from the IGST collected. This translates to a total revenue of ₹77,796 crore for CGST and ₹81,450 crore for SGST for March, 2024 after regular settlement,” the ministry said. For the full year gone by, the Centre has settled ₹4,87,039 crore to CGST and ₹4,12,028 crore to SGST from IGST collections.
Central GST collections have exceeded the revised estimated for 2023-24, while there there is a modest shortfall in the GST compensation cess inflows, that are being used to repay the loans raised to compensate States during the pandemic, said ICRA chief economist Aditi Nayar. “For 2024-25, the implicit growth needed to meet the Interim Budget Estimate has come down to single-digits [less than 10%], which appears likely to be exceeded,” she added.
GST revenues from Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh rise
Among the States, Mizoram recorded a 29% contraction in revenues in March, the second month in a row that GST collections dipped in the North Eastern State. As many as 18 other States recorded lower revenue growth than the national average of 17.6% for domestic transactions. These included Chhatisgarh (4%), Jharkhand (5%), Manipur and Meghalaya (6% each), West Bengal (7%), Odisha (8%), Kerala and Goa (10% each), Telangana (12%) as well as Gujarat and Rajasthan (15%).
The erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir recorded a 26% uptick, while the Union Territory of Ladakh recorded the highest revenue growth in the country at 82%. 11 States grew faster than the national average, led by Nagaland (43%), Tripura (34%) and Karnataka (26%), followed by Haryana (23%), Maharashtra (22%), Assam (21%), Punjab and Delhi (20% each) and Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, which clocked a 19% rise (each).