2nd-highest GST collection as festive spending surges

Goods & Services Tax (GST) revenue surpassed ₹1.72 lakh crore, the second-highest monthly collection since the new indirect tax regime started in July 2017, a figure driven mainly by economic buoyancy, robust domestic demand and stricter compliance, in what experts said indicated better-than-expected growth in the second quarter.

- Rajeev Jayaswal

The indirect tax revenue, reflecting actual business transactions made in September, is the highest monthly collection if the month of April — which reflects transaction data from the financial year closing period of March — is excluded. The highest collection was in April 2023, when ₹1.87 lakh crore was deposited as GST.

The data comes a day after, speaking at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das said India’s economic growth number in the second quarter (Q2) is likely to surprise “on the upside”. Das based his observation on trends such as momentum of economic activities and some early indicators. The official GDP number for Q2 (July-September 2023), which is expected on November 30, was estimated by the RBI at 6.5% last month on October 6.

Another indicator that supports the idea that the economy has sped up was released by the ministry of electronics and IT, which said in a tweet that there were 11.41 billion mobile payment transactions made via the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in October, up from 10.56 billion in September and 56% more than in the same period last year.