April GST collection of over ₹1 lakh crore ‘a landmark’, says Jaitley

NEW DELHI: Buoyed by GST collections exceeding Rs 1 lakh crore in April, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said it is a landmark achievement and a confirmation of increased economic activity.

The government mopped up Rs 1.03 lakh crore in GST collection in April, indicating stabilisation of the new indirect tax regime which was rolled out on July 1 last year.

While Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in entire 2017-18 stood Rs 7.41 lakh crore, in March, the figure was Rs 89,264 crore.

“GST collections in April exceeding Rs 1 lakh crore is a landmark achievement and a confirmation of increased economic activity as brought out by other reports,” Jaitley said in a tweet.

In another tweet, he said that with the improved economic climate, the introduction of the e-way bill and improved GST compliance, the indirect collections would continue to show a positive trend.

Earlier in the day, the finance ministry said: “The total gross GST revenue collected in April 2018 is Rs 1,03,458 crore of which CGST is Rs 18,652 crore, SGST is Rs 25,704 crore, IGST is Rs 50,548 crore (including Rs 21,246 crore collected on imports) and Cess is Rs 8,554 crore - including Rs 702 crore collected on imports .

The buoyancy in the tax revenue of GST reflects the upswing in the economy and better compliance, the ministry said in a press release.

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