‘Record’ GST collections mask critical slowdown

The Government of India claimed achieving the highest monthly collection of gross GST of Rs 1,87,035 crore in April 2023, which was higher than the collections of Rs 1,67,540 crore in April 2022.

The year-on-year (YoY) growth, however, was quite muted. Absolute collections grew by Rs 19,495 crore, whereas the GST collections had increased by Rs 27,833 crore in April 2022. Growth at 11.64 per cent was also lower than 19.92 per cent in April 2022.

Also, the CGST and the SGST constituents of the GST did record a healthy growth. The CGST at Rs 38,440 crore in April 2023 was higher than the Rs 33,159 crore in April 2022 (by 15.93 per cent) and Rs 29,546 crore in March 2023 (by 30.10 per cent).

Likewise, the SGST at Rs 47,412 crore was higher than Rs 41,793 crore in April 2022 (by 13.44 per cent) and Rs 37,314 crore in March 2023 (by 27.06 per cent).