GST collections up Rs 1 trn for second month straight, aided by festivals

Goods and services tax collections surpassed Rs one trillion for the second month straight in November. The mop up was Rs 192 crore less at Rs 1.049 trillion in November compared to Rs 1.051 trillion in October.

This is the straight third month when the collections rose year-on-year. November collections were 1.42 per cent higher than the same month of the previous year. That way, the yearly growth came down from 10.25 per cent in October and 3.87 per cent in September.

Collections are mostly for transactions done in October, representing the impact of the festival season.

While Central GST is slightly less at Rs 19,189 crore in November compared to Rs 19,193 crore in October, state GST was more at Rs 25,540 crore and Rs 25,411 crore.

"The second straight month of Rs one trillion plus collection is certainly indicative of continued economic recovery and the collections being slightly more than the same month last year is quite encouraging," said Abhishek Jain, partner at EY.

This should also help in containing the shortfall of GST collections caused due to the pandemic.