The Government reported a 15 percent year-on-year increase in Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections, totaling  ₹1.68 lakh crore, as of November, as announced by the Ministry of Finance on December 1.

Although the November GST collections of  ₹1.68 lakh crore represent a 2 percent decrease from the October figure of ₹1.72 lakh crore, it marks the ninth consecutive month where monthly GST collections have consistently surpassed the ₹1.5-lakh-crore threshold.

The most recent GST data brings the average monthly collection for the fiscal year 2023-24 to  ₹1.67 lakh crore. Over the years, there has been a consistent increase in monthly GST collections. 

In 2017-18, the collections averaged under  ₹1 lakh crore per month. However, following the impact of the pandemic in 2020-21, there was a significant surge, and by the fiscal year 2022-23, the average monthly collections had risen to  ₹1.51 lakh crore.

In November, the Central Goods and Services Tax (GST) amounted to  ₹30,420 crore, State GST reached  ₹38,226 crore, Integrated GST stood at  ₹87,009 crore, and compensation cess totaled  ₹12,274 crore.

Additionally, the government disbursed  ₹37,878 crore to Central GST and  ₹31,557 crore to State GST from Integrated GST. Consequently, after the settlement, the overall revenue for the month was  ₹68,297 crore for the Centre and  ₹69,783 crore for State GST.

"During the month, the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) are 20 percent higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year," the finance ministry said in a statement.

Although the total GST collections for November showed a slight dip compared to October, the year-on-year growth, surpassing 15 percent, represents the most substantial increase in the 2023-24 fiscal year. In fact, the November year-on-year surge in GST collections stands as the most robust in the past 11 months.

According to the projections outlined in the 2023-24 Budget, the central government anticipates a 12 percent increase in GST collections for the current financial year. Over the initial eight months, the cumulative gross GST collected has reached  ₹13.32 lakh crore, marking an 11.9 percent uptick from the corresponding period in the previous year.

Among states, Nagaland saw the maximum growth at 99% in GST revenue collection in November 2023 as compared to same period last year, meanwhile, Manipur recorded -21% growth in terms of GST revenue collection.

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) figures were released a day subsequent to the announcement by the statistics ministry indicating a robust performance of the Indian economy, surpassing expectations with a growth rate of 7.6 percent in the July-September period. Notably, the manufacturing sector exhibited remarkable expansion, registering a year-on-year growth of 13.9 percent.

“The upward trend in GST collections continues as expected on the back of festive seasons and further increase in audits and investigations. This trend is likely to continue for the remainder of this fiscal as well. 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," said Pratik Jain, Partner Price Waterhouse & Co LLP.