Correct Answer : Option (D) - 15%
The government's Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections climbed 15% year-on-year in November to Rs 1.68 lakh crore, the Ministry of Finance said on December 1, 2023.
* At Rs 1.68 lakh crore, the November GST collections is 2% lower than the Rs 1.72 lakh crore collected in October 2023.
* This is the 9th month in a row that the monthly GST collection has come in above the Rs 1.5-lakh-crore mark.
* The latest GST data takes the average monthly collection in 2023-24 to Rs 1.67 lakh crore. Monthly GST collections have risen over the years. From averaging under Rs 1 lakh crore per month in 2017-18 - its first year - collections rose rapidly after the pandemic-hit 20202-21 to average Rs 1.51 lakh crore in 2022-23.
* In November 2023, Central GST was Rs 30,420 crore, State GST was Rs 38,226 crore, Integrated GST was Rs 87,009 crore, and compensation cess was Rs 12,274 crore.
* Further, the government settled Rs 37,878 crore to Central GST and Rs 31,557 crore to State GST from Integrated GST. As a result, the total revenue for the month post settlement was Rs 68,297 crore for the Centre and Rs 69,783 crore for State GST.
* "During the month, the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) are 20% higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year," the finance ministry said in a statement.
* While total GST collections in November were marginally lower than that in October, the year-on-year growth of just over 15% is the highest so far in 2023-24. In fact, the YoY increase in GST collections in November is the highest in 11 months.
* As per the 2023-24 Budget, the Centre expects its GST collections to rise by 12% in the current financial year. So far in the first eight months of the year, the gross GST collected amounts to Rs 13.32 lakh crore, which is 11.9% higher from the same period last year.
* The PMI data comes a day after the statistics ministry said the Indian economy grew faster-than-expected at 7.6% in July-September period, with the manufacturing sector growing 13.9% year-on-year.
* According to Pratik Jain, Partner at Price Waterhouse & Co LLP, the upward trend in GST collections is likely to continue for the rest of 2023-24, with audits and investigations playing a role.
* "It's interesting to see that robust growth in GST (compared to last year) is seen in most of the manufacturing states, indicative of uplift in demand and consumption," Jain added..
Source : Money Control
Published On : December 2, 2023
Category : Indian Economy
