JOIN USGST collections cross Rs 1 lakh crore in October for first time in 8 months
In an indication that economic recovery has begun to pick up the pace, the October Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection crossed Rs 1 lakh crore for the first time since lockdown in March.
Power consumption recorded double-digit growth and digital transactions through India’s homegrown platform UPI also hit a new milestone, crossing the 200-crore mark in October.
Experts said India's economy will bounce back and emerge stronger from the Covid-19 pandemic.
GST collections in October stood at over Rs 1.05 lakh crore. The last time the collections crossed the psychologically important Rs 1 lakh crore was in February, government data showed.
"Collections which are higher by nearly Rs 10,000 crore compared to the same period in 2019 indicate the definitive revival of consumption and festival spends across the economy. Continuance of this trend will help in narrowing the fiscal deficit for 2020-21 and will go a long way in reviving business confidence across sectors," said M S Mani, senior director at Deloitte India.
The country's power consumption witnessed double-digit growth in the month, growing by 13.38% to 110.94 billion units, driven by a pick-up in industrial and commercial activities. Consumption in the same month last year stood at 97.84 BU.
The pandemic had affected power consumption for six months in a row from March.
Diesel consumption rose 6.6% in October year-on-year. This is the first such increase since the outbreak — a strong indicator of industrial activities picking up.
According to rail ministry data, the railways' freight loading in October was 15% higher than last year's 94 million tonnes.
Another data set showed the number of Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-based payments hit a new high, with 207 crore transactions in October. The transactions were worth Rs 3.3 lakh crore. This has doubled from April’s nearly 100 crore transactions.
"BHIM UPI has managed to change the face of person-to-person and person-to-merchant money transfers in the past few years while making them safer and more secure," said the National Payment Corporation of India in a tweet.
Ficci president Sangita Reddy said India's strategy of dealing with the Covid crisis has paid off and the country's economy is set to bounce back and emerge stronger. She said it was time to take bold actions and push the growth agenda vigorously.