At 3.2%, GST collection growth slowest in 6 months

NEW DELHI: Growth in GST collections slowed to 3.2% in May with the mop-up at Rs 1,94,184 crore on account of fall in revenue from domestic transactions. According to latest available data in May -- based on transactions in April -- GST from domestic sources was down 2.6% to Rs 1,34,530 crore.Govt, however, attributed it to a one-off gain of Rs 10,000 crore in May 2025 from a payment made by a telecom operator for spectrum allocation. Adjusting for it, officials said there was a 9% increase in the overall kitty in May.They asserted that consumption remains strong across segments -- from agriculture to manufacturing, real estate, transport, consumer goods and electronics -- following the rationalisation of the GST structure last Sept.Unlike most months, officials also shared data on taxable value of goods and services. The taxable value for goods in April was estimated to have increased 27% to over Rs 40 lakh crore, with gold and precious metals leading with a 47% surge to over Rs 5.1 lakh crore. In the case of services, the taxable value was 22% higher at Rs 11.5 lakh crore.IGST on imports too rose over 20% to more than Rs 60,000 crore in May. Coal has the biggest share, soaring nearly five times to Rs 3,749 crore, with memory chips (three-fold ) and processing units (5x) too seeing a massive jump. "While import GST has recorded a near 20% growth, this may also be attributed to rupee depreciation. Adjusted for the one-time telecom payment in the base, domestic collections reflect moderate growth," said Abhishek Jain, Indirect Tax Head & Partner at KPMG.