Bengal's GST collection in Jan 2022 worth Rs 2,700 cr

Kolkata: Bengal's gross GST collections for the month of January 2022 has been to the tune of Rs 2,700 crore — the second-highest GST collection during the Covid period. The record GST collection assumes significance with the state being compelled to impose a lot of restrictions from the start of January after a sudden spike in Covid cases.

The state's collection had clocked Rs 3,100 crore in March 2021 — which has been the highest since the Covid period.

"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has always emphasised on ensuring that the state economy remains unaffected in spite of challenges imposed due to Covid. The GST collections for this financial year bears testimony to that as the monthly average GST collection has been Rs 2,550 crore a month on an average," a senior official of Nabanna said.

The lottery ticket sales played an important role in the GST collection. More than Rs 400 crore has come to the state exchequer through lottery ticket sales only in the month of January.

After excise, lottery is presently the second-highest contributor in GST collections in Bengal. The state earns around Rs 13,000 crore a year through excise while the earning through the sale of lottery tickets is Rs 300 crore per month on an average. The state government's own lottery is unavailable for the last two years. The private lottery enterprises have made it in the fray. The lottery of the Nagaland government and some other states too are prevalent in Bengal.

A senior official of the state Finance department said the pandemic situation has subsided in the current month and is expected to improve further in the last month of this ongoing fiscal. "We are expecting that the GST collection for the month of March this year will surpass the collections of March 2021," the official added.