India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues grew 12.7% in January 2023 to hit almost ₹1.59 lakh crore, the second highest monthly collections on record, as per revised figures from the Finance Ministry.
Earlier estimates of GST revenues for January had pegged collections at about ₹1.56 lakh crore till the evening of January 31 — 10.6% higher than GST receipts in January 2022.
Based on the updated GST collections, the Finance Ministry’s monthly economic review released on February 23 said that total GST revenues between April 2022 and January 2023 now stand at ₹14.9 lakh crore, 23.1% higher than the same period of 2021-22.
“Domestic economic activity remains robust even as a global economic slowdown materialises, as evident in the second-highest ever GST collections of ₹1.6 lakh crore in January 2023. GST collections have now remained above the ₹1.4 lakh crore mark for 11 successive months,” the review noted.
“While increasing electronic toll collection reflects steadily rising commercial activity, the sustained growth in the volume of [GST] e-way bill generation points to increased spending and value addition in the manufacturing sector,” it added.
The review shows year-on-year growth in January’s GST Collections at 12.7%, which translates into about ₹1,58,891 crore, compared to collections of ₹1,40,986 crore in January 2022.
While a break-up of the growth in revenues from domestic transactions vis-à-vis imports is not available for last month yet, in its January 31 statement, the Ministry had said goods imports yielded 29% more GST in the first 10 months of 2022-23, while taxes from domestic transactions (including import of services) had grown 22%.
