Amid worries about weak consumer spending trends, Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues for the first nine months of 2023-24 reveal a dissonance in consumption growth across States, with Gujarat, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh among a dozen-odd States that are seeing weaker growth. While GST revenues have been robust through April to December 2023, growing at 11.7% and averaging ₹1.66 lakh crore a month, State GST collections have grown at a sharper pace of 15.2%. On the other hand, eight States, led by Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have seen State GST revenues rise in a range of 17% to 18.8%. Among the smaller States and union territories, most registered higher growth in State GST collections than the 15.2% national average. State GST revenues grew 49.6% in Mizoram, 35.8% in Nagaland, and 33.9% in Arunachal Pradesh, as per Bank of Baroda’s analysis of the Finance Ministry data.

Source: The Hindu January 08, 2024 11:03 UTC