Centre's GST collections go up, states' portion dip in current fiscal year

In April-August 2019, Centre's GST revenue grew 13%, SGST for key states contracted 5%

A peculiar trend is playing out under the goods and services tax (GST) regime in the current fiscal year. Overall monthly collections are showing a dismal trend owing to the slowdown, with national collections growing 5 per cent in the first half. 

But as GST is a federal tax collected by both the Centre and states, and then distributed among the both, ideally Centre’s portion (CGST) and states’ portion (SGST) should grow equally strongly. But that is clearly not the case this year, to date. 

CGST has grown 13 per cent, faster than the growth in national GST collections, in the first