Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections of Maharashtra have shown a significant growth constantly by 18% from April to July this year. It surpassed the national growth rate of 11-12%. The state clocked its highest GST collection at ₹33,196 crore ($4.6 billion) in April, reduced in May, but it has shown growth again for June and July month. This improvement is due to the solid functioning of the manufacturing and service entities. Additionally, the Central Government has also taken several praiseworthy steps to eliminate tax evasion. Maharashtra generated a GST revenue of ₹2,70,346 crore in 2022-23, which accounted for 15% of the national aggregate GST collection.
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Given the contribution of 15% in GST collection in 2022-23, the state recorded a growth rate of between 16 and 21% in the four months of the current financial year. In April, the collection clocked ₹33,196 crore- 20.74% growth as compared to the relevant month of the previous financial year. However, the collection was reduced to ₹23,535 crore in May, a deficit of 15.87%. Amazingly, in June the collection rose to ₹26,098 crore, a growth rate of 16.82%, and ₹26,064 crore in July, a growth rate of 17.78%.
In the meantime, for April, May, and June, the national growth rate of 12% was recorded, and in July, it stood at 11%.
Maharashtra’s SGST revenue has clocked between ₹7,409 crore to ₹10,392 crore. This collection is apart from the monthly contribution of around 3,500 crore from the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST). According to an official from the state, the state government is aiming to generate an annual collection of ₹1,36,041 crore. Aiming this, they are expecting a monthly collection of around ₹11,337 crores, against which the revenue is more than 7% more during this period. A growth rate of above 12% is what they are expecting to achieve.
Further, they said that the rise in the GST revenue, which is above what the state government expects and is also much above the national growth, has been achieved by the efforts of the central government to curb tax evasion and also the strong performance of services and manufacturing sectors. The improvement is likely to remain constant throughout the financial year, which is a positive sign.
An official from the GST Commissionerate said that the state GDP has been led by these industries and a rise in the GST collection is because of them. The central government’s relentless moves to eliminate tax evasion practices from the GST ecosystem by using advanced technology such as data analytics tools, also helped the state to keep the revenue growing.
According to another official, the rise in the GST collection is expected to remain constant as the upcoming elections will give a boost to the economy. The general elections always bring massive amounts of money into the system. Given the central government’s prime focus on building the infrastructure sector and Maharashtra being the beneficiary undoubtedly, the growth engine in the state is unlikely to stop, he added.
During 2022-23, Maharashtra’s GST revenue was ₹2,70,346 crore, which contributed 15% of the nation’s aggregate collection of ₹18.1 lakh crore. It was much more than that of Karnataka ( ₹1.2 lakh crore) and Gujarat ( ₹1.1 lakh crore) reserving second and third position in GST collection, respectively.