This is lower than the historic GST collection of ₹1.87 trillion reported in April but is in line with the trend of robust GST revenue receipts. GST revenue receipts in May, which represents the transactions in the first month of the new financial year, was expected to come down from the high level seen in April, which saw a sharp spike aided by year-end sales by companies.

Monthly GST revenues remained above ₹1.4 trillion for 14 months in a row, with ₹1.5 trillion mark being crossed for the fifth time since the inception of GST, the ministry said. After settlement of taxes on account of inter-state sales, the Central government collected ₹63,780 crore while states collected ₹65,597 crore in May, the statement said.

In May, revenue from import of goods shot up 12% from what was collected from imports in the same month a year ago. Experts expect the double-digit growth in revenue receipts to continue.

"Over the next few months, we expect GST revenues to print at Rs. 1.55-1.65 trillion and record an expansion of 10-11% year-on-year, broadly in line with the nominal GDP growth expected in FY2024," said ICRA Ltd. Chief Economist Aditi Nayar.

While the collections in May in absolute terms are lower than that of the previous month, which had an embedded year-end impact, it reflects a continuation of the inherently good economic performance across states, said MS Mani, Partner, Deloitte India.

Most large state economies reported double digit year-on-year revenue growth in May. Maharashtra received the highest GST receipts among states at ₹23,356 crores, a 16% improvement from the collections in the year ago period. Karnataka collected ₹10,317 crore in May, which is a 12% growth. Uttar Pradesh collected ₹7468 crores in May, 12% more than what it collected in the same time a year ago. Gujarat, however reported a 5% improvement at ₹9800 crores.

Experts also expect the ongoing regulatory action against fake GST invoices and the ongoing GST audits to support revenue receipts in the coming months. The Centre last month also kicked off automated scrutiny of GST returns. This is expected to enable the officers to carry out scrutiny of returns on the basis of data analytics and risks identified by the system.

The strong growth seen in the services sector in recent months is also giving a strong boost to GST receipts. On Thursday, S&P Global said quoting a survey that India's manufacturing sector painted a notably positive picture for the sector and that its purchasing managers' index indicated the strongest improvement in the health of the sector since October 2020.