GST mop-up dips below Rs1 lakh crore in June

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 6

Unpreparedness for the ‘second wave’ of Covid has badly hit the economy with Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in June crashing below the Rs 1 lakh crore-mark for the first time in nine months.

For the second successive month, the government delayed releasing the GST figures in the hope that like last month, some residual inflows would push it beyond Rs 1 lakh crore. However, unlike last month, when a four-day delay helped push up the collection just beyond Rs 1 lakh crore, the impact on June collection was harder.

The shortfall in collection has implications for states which were forced to borrow from the market by the Centre after GST collection had nosedived due to the national lockdown declared last year.

According to the Finance Ministry, GST collection for June was Rs 92,849 crore. The last time this happened was in September 2020, when GST collection was Rs 95,480 crore. The June figure, which refers to GST collection in May, was Rs 1.02 lakh crore. However, things were looking up in April, when GST collection of Rs 1.41 lakh crore was the highest-ever since its introduction.

“The GST collection for June is related to the business transactions made during May. During May, most of the States/UTs were under either complete or partial lockdown due to Covid,” the Finance Ministry said.

“During the month, 3.99 crore e-way bills were generated as compared to 5.88 crore in April, down over 30 %,” it said.