The financial 2023-24 (FY24) ended on a positive note for the Indian economy with goods and services tax (GST) collection, car sales, and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions hitting high spots.
GST receipts net of refunds grew 18.4 per cent at Rs 1.65 trillion in March. It had risen 13.6 per cent year-on-year to
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Rs 1.51 trillion in February. With the March numbers, net collection stood at Rs 18.01 trillion in FY24, an increase of 13.4 per cent over that in the previous year.
Gross GST collection (before refunds) grew 11.5 per cent to hit the second-highest figure at Rs 1.78 trillion in March FY24 despite being pulled down moderately by weaker integrated GST (IGST) on imports of goods.
This came with Indian carmakers reaching a new high in FY24 with sales of 4.23 million domestic passenger vehicles, marking an 8.74 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase.
Also, UPI transactions in India posted a record 57 per cent rise in volumes and 44 per cent in value in FY24 over the previous financial year. Gross GST collection was the highest — at Rs 1.87 trillion —in April FY24.
GST collection before refunds touched Rs 20.18 trillion in FY24, showing a growth rate of 11.7 per cent over the Rs 18.07 crore during the previous financial year, showed the data released by the finance ministry on Monday.
It was domestic transactions that drove GST collection in March. Gross receipts from such transactions rose 17.6 per cent.
On the other hand, the import of goods hit integrated GST collection due to softening commodity prices. These receipts before refunds fell 5.1 per cent at Rs 40,322 crore.
“GST collection, marked by an impressive 11.5 per cent year-on-year growth rate in March, underscores the resilience of our economy in the face of global challenges,” said Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner, EY.
However, gross cess on imported goods grew 3.7 per cent at Rs 996 crore during the month.
An amount of Rs 77,706 crore was collected as gross central GST (CGST) and Rs 81,450 as gross state GST (SGST) for March.
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And, for FY24, Rs 8.62 trillion was collected as gross CGST and Rs 8.83 trillion as gross SGST.
However, it is difficult to say if the Revised Estimates given in the Budget for 2023-24 have been met since these are gross figures.
The Budget has estimated Rs 8.12 trillion from CGST in the Revised Estimates for FY24, the same as in the Budget Estimates.
Average monthly collection stood at Rs 1.68 trillion during FY24, surpassing the previous year’s average of Rs 1.5 trillion.
“Average monthly collection increasing by approximately Rs 18,000 crore this year indicates a robust growth story and recovery,” said Abhishek Jain, indirect tax head and partner, KPMG.
Except Manipur and the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, every other state and Union Territory recorded growth during FY24, after the IGST settlement.
“It can be inferred that growth is across regions and sectors,” said M S Mani, partner, Deloitte India.