Shazneen Mistry
The GST collection in Maharashtra rose by 38% in July compared to the previous months, indicating a massive economic recovery after the second wave of Covid-19.
The GST collection of the state rose to ₹18,889 crores in July as compared to ₹13,721 crores in June, revealing that the state had a good profit of ₹5,178 crores.
GST is a consumption-based tax and an indicator of economic activity. GST collections in Maharashtra are the highest in the country and it is the main revenue earner for the state government. The GST collections in July reflect business transactions made in the previous month but since the state was under lockdown in April and May, the June revenues reflected the collections during the previous lockdown month. As a result, the surge in July is sharper.
The national lockdown last year had been very difficult for many sectors, except for the agricultural sector as well as manufacturing, essential, and consumer services, as only they were allowed to stay open during the lockdown. This shows that the GST collection from April to June this year was 68% higher than last year. The collection from April to July 2020 was ₹40,552 crore, while from April to July 2021 was 68,000 crore. This indicates a profit of ₹ 27,647 crores.
The data also shows that the state collected 1.6 lakh crore in GST in 2020-21, compared to 1.8 lakh crore in 2019-20. The receipts had dipped by Rs 20,609 crore.
When the state budget was tabled on March 8, the state had revised its target for SGST collections. Although the target for 2020-21 had been set at ₹1 lakh crore, the state had collected ₹88,000 crores, the gap was ₹19,146 crore. The budget documents said: “The tax collections are not showing the expected buoyancy due to the Covid-19 pandemic and non-receipt of compensation stopped from the central government.”
