Last April, the Centre and states collected ₹1.68 trillion in GST, which was the highest under the indirect tax regime till March this year. On 20 April this year, revenue collections on a single day shot up to a record ₹68,228 crore over 980,000 transactions, the finance ministry said in a statement.

View Full Image

The strong GST collection marks a robust beginning to the fiscal year for policymakers, who are banking on normal monsoon showers and an early end to the conflict in Europe to support the 6.5% economic growth forecast for this fiscal. Any spillover effects of the banking stress in Europe and the US and the economic consequences of a tight monetary policy in those markets could impact India's economic growth this year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed the record GST revenue receipts "great news" for the Indian economy. "Rising tax collection despite lower tax rates shows the success of how GST has increased integration and compliance," Modi said in a social media post.

The finance ministry said that after the settlement of interstate transactions, the Centre collected ₹84,304 crore as central GST, while states collected ₹ ₹85,371 crore as State GST. On import of goods, the collections stood at ₹34,972 crore, which is part of the tax revenue from integrated GST or IGST that is settled between the Centre and states. GST cess on high-end products, tobacco and aerated drinks fetched ₹12,025 crore, which goes to repaying the liquidity support extended to states during the pandemic in lieu of their GST compensation.

April revenue receipts relate to transactions during March, the closing month of FY23, where all organizations would have been keen to close the fiscal year on a high note, explained M.S. Mani, partner, Deloitte India. This comes on the back of monthly GST collections crossing ₹1.4 trillion continuously through FY23, and hence is a testimony to the good economic growth and the enhanced efforts aimed at improving compliances, said Mani. The majority of large states reported more than 20% growth over the same period last year, indicating broad-based revenue growth across states, he said.

The improvement was as per expectations, given that the monthly generation of electronic permits for goods transportation within and across states (e-way bills) had crossed 90 million mark in March, which is 11% higher than the 81 million permits generated in February. Among states, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh registered more than 20% annual growth in GST revenue in April, while Punjab saw a 16% growth and Tamil Nadu a 19% growth. Delhi reported an 8% annual growth in April.