CM's economic policy results in hike in SGST & IGST collection by `400 cr in July

Kolkata: With the Mamata Banerjee government's approach to imposing lockdown by ensuring both "life and livelihood" in this trying time, Bengal has witnessed an increase in the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) and the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) collection by more than Rs 400 crore in July compared to that of the previous month.

This gains significance as the GST collection in the country dropped in the month of July to Rs 87,422 crore compared to that of Rs 90,917 in June.

With this increase, Bengal's SGST and IGST collection went up to Rs 2,000 crore which is only around Rs 150 to Rs 200 crore less than the usual collection in a month prior to that of the nationwide lockdown.

According to sources in the State Secretariat, the collection in the month of June was Rs 1,630 crore. It included SGST worth Rs 1,100 crore with the IGST for imports from other states registering an amount of Rs 530 crore.

While explaining the increase in the revenue generation in July, a senior official said: "In the month of July, the SGST collection stood at Rs 1,200 crore with an increase of Rs 100 crore compared to that of June. Again, the IGST collection went up by around Rs 300 crore as it is Rs 800 crore in July."

Before the lockdown was imposed, the collection used to be around Rs 2,200 crore every month. "We are quite close to regaining the situation and we are hopeful of the same in the coming months as the collection shows an increasing trend," the official said.

According to economist Abhirup Sarkar, the GST collection in Bengal would further increase in the next two and three months as business activities usually go up in the state ahead of Durga Puja. It is also expected that it may help in making up the deficit in SGST and IGST collection of around Rs 200 crore in a month as it happened during normal times.

He further stated that the growth in the SGST and IGST collection is the result of a gradual movement to the unlock phase from complete lockdown and the relaxations given in the regime. It may be mentioned that the state witnessed the increase in CGST and IGST collection when the economy across the country has nosedived due to the nationwide lockdown. Even, according to various sources, uncertainty looms over the release of GST compensation to the states as a few days back Union Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey reportedly told members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance that the Centre may not be able to pay all GST compensations due to the setback in economic activities for the nationwide lockdown. It raised apprehensions of the change in the rate of assured GST compensation to the states as well.

But, the robust economic strategy of the Mamata Banerjee government has ensured SGST and IGST collection of around Rs 2,000 crore in July. This comes when her economic policy helped in reducing the state's unemployment rate by around 40 percent.