Tax kitty

At ₹1.62 trillion, the GST collections in September were the fourth highest since the new indirect tax regime began in 2017. The GST revenue was 10% higher than a year ago. After settlement of inter-state sales to the Centre and states' accounts, the former received ₹63,555 crore, while the latter earned ₹65,235 crore. Maharashtra, the biggest state economy, reported the highest mop-up. The GST receipts so far this year are in line with the 10.5% nominal GDP growth rate projected by the government, a report by Mint said.

Festive fervour

Passenger vehicle (PV) makers in India plan to cash in on the upcoming festive season as most reported record monthly dispatches to dealers in September, Mint reported. Vehicle dispatches hit a record 363,733 units, up 2.4% from a year ago, according to data from carmakers and industry estimates. The surge was led by sports utility vehicles, which now command over half (52%) of all PV volumes. While Maruti Suzuki recorded dispatches of over 150,000 units, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hyundai saw their highest-ever monthly dispatches.

Vigour cools

57.5: That's the purchasing managers' index that the manufacturing sector recorded in the month of September, down from 58.6 in August, data released by S&P Global showed. While a 50-plus reading shows factory activity continued to expand, the figure indicated the slowest pace in five months. S&P Global said that despite softening of new orders, Indian firms noted new business gains from clients in Asia, Europe, North America and West Asia.

Lowest returns

The benchmark BSE Sensex gave its worst returns for the September-ended quarter in four years. The index gained just 1.7% during the last three months, as compared to 8.3% during the same quarter last year, and nearly 13% in July-September 2021. The last time it dropped lower during Q2 was in 2019, when the returns dipped into negative territory. The trend was also true for the BSE500, BSE AllCap and the BSE LargeCap indices, even as the mid-cap and small-cap indices remained unscathed.

Superpower goals

India's growing soft power has been in the news after the G20 summit. However, a country brand index called the "Global Soft Power Index" ranked India only 28th among 121 nations in this year, a spot higher since 2022. Run by a UK-based brand valuation consultancy called Brand Finance, the index ranks nations by scoring public perceptions on key attributes that create an international image. Under the business pillar, India was ranked second in terms of future growth potential, but lagged on governance, sustainability, and people and values, Mint reported.

Investment plans

$20 billion: That's the amount of investment that Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is considering for setting up two petrochemical projects in India, Mint reported. The plants will be set up either independently or in partnerships with other companies, chairman and chief executive officer Arun Kumar Singh said. He added that ONGC was looking for sites to set up the plants and could announce it this fiscal year itself. Singh said the company felt the need to increase its petrochemical footprints to "accommodate our product in India".

Capex woes

During the September-ended quarter, companies announced new investment proposals worth ₹1.2 trillion in India, sharply down by 82% since the June quarter, Mint reported. The decline was 77% on a year-on-year basis, provisional figures from the project-tracking database of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy showed. The public sector saw a much starker drop than private firms. In the June quarter, the worth of public sector announcements had shrunk nearly 5% quarter-on-quarter, but this widened to 68% in the just-ended quarter.

Chart of the week: Hunting jobs

The demand for jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme between July and September 2023 was 15% higher than last year. The rise in demand for work can be majorly attributed to an uneven monsoon, Mint reported. However, crop losses and export curbs have hit farm revenues.