New Delhi, May 1 (PTI): Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection rose 12.6 per cent Y-o-Y to an all-time high of about Rs 2.37 lakh crore in April, reflecting strong economic activity and March-end reconciliation of books by businesses.
The GST mop-up was Rs 2.10 lakh crore in April 2024 -- the second highest collection ever since GST was rolled out on July 1, 2017. In March 2025, the collection was Rs 1.96 lakh crore.
According to the latest government data released on Thursday, GST revenue from domestic transactions rose 10.7 per cent to about Rs 1.9 lakh crore, while revenue from imported goods was up 20.8 per cent to Rs 46,913 crore.
Refunds issuance rose 48.3 per cent to Rs 27,341 crore during April.
After adjusting refunds, net GST collection rose 9.1 per cent to over Rs 2.09 lakh crore in April.
Deloitte India Partner M S Mani said the net GST collections crossing Rs 2 lakh crore in the first month of the current fiscal year indicates a strong economic performance in the last month of the previous fiscal year as these relate to transactions in goods and services in March 2025.
"The GST collections during the month have been uniformly high in all the major producing/consuming states and have been in the range of 11 per cent to 16 per cent, unlike previous months where there were some large states having lower growth.
Central GST collection from domestic transactions stood at Rs 48,634 crore in April, while state GST mop-up was Rs 59,372 crore. Integrated GST and cess collection were Rs 69,504 crore and Rs 12,293 crore, respectively, from domestic transactions.
EY Tax Partner Saurabh Agarwal said the record GST collections underscore the Indian economy's underlying strength in the face of global economic uncertainties.
"The government's proactive measures to accelerate export and other GST refunds have eased the working capital burden on industries, a benefit likely to translate to consumers over the medium to long term," Agarwal said.
While a potential moderation in absolute GST collections is anticipated next month due to the current global economic climate, the overall outlook for the Indian economy remains optimistic, he added.
KPMG, Indirect Tax Head & Partner Abhishek Jain said the all-time high GST collections are a strong indicator of robust economic activity.
"While this reflects ongoing recovery and growth, a significant contributor is also the year-end reconciliation process, which typically results in additional tax payments by businesses to align their returns during the year," jain added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
