GST collections were up 56% to over  ₹1.44 lakh crore in June, news agency Press Trust of India reported, citing finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. In May, the GST collection number was at  ₹1,40,885 crore, an increase of 44% year-on-year. This is only the fifth time the monthly GST collection crossed  ₹1.40 lakh crore mark since inception of GST and fourth month at a stretch since March 2022.

The finance minister said The finance minister said  ₹1.4 lakh crore is the "rough bottom line" now for GST collections.

“The high GST collections, which leads to a new monthly normal of  ₹1.4 trillion during Q1 of FY23, comes on the heels of several macro economic parameters being on the upswing. Since this comes in the backdrop of the guaranteed compensation to states coming to an end, it would assuage many states who were worried about their revenue mobilization ability in the post cess period," said MS Mani, Partner, Deloitte India on June GST collections. 

The two-day 47th GST Council meeting recently concluded in Chandigarh. The GST on numerous items were also revised during the meeting. The GST rates on online gaming, horse racing and casinos will be finalized in the 48th GST Council Meeting which will be held in the first week of August in Madurai.

On the issue of compensation cess, a decision could not be reached. Finance Minister said that broadly states said that compensation can be continued at least for a few years, if not for 5 years.

GST came into existence from July 1, 2017, subsuming 17 central and state levies. At that time it was decided that states will be compensated for any loss of revenue from the new tax for five years. States have sought an an extension of this compensation mechanism due to the pandemic.

The GST Council - the highest decision-making body of the indirect tax regime - is headed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprises representatives of all states and union territories.

We mark #5YearsofGST, a major tax reform that furthered ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and fulfilled the vision of ‘One Nation, One Tax.’ https://t.co/fL3kJbz4ty

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 1, 2022

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today in a tweet hailed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as a major tax reform, saying it furthered 'Ease of Doing Business' and fulfilled the vision of 'One Nation, One Tax'.

"We mark #5YearsofGST, a major tax reform that furthered ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and fulfilled the vision of ‘One Nation, One Tax'," Modi said in a tweet.

Separate data released today showed growth in India's manufacturing sector activity eased to a nine-month low in June. At 53.9 in June, the seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell from 54.6 in May but signalled a twelfth consecutive monthly improvement in the health of the sector.

Factory orders and production rose for the twelfth straight month in June, but in both cases the rates of expansion eased to nine-month lows.