Hitting the right track
Fahid Fayaz Darangay
Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime was launched all over India with effect from 1 July 2017 after facing severe backlash from Economic thinkers and policy makers. The GST collections for September are likely to cross Rs 95,000 crore for the first time this fiscal year which would be mainly for transactions carried out in August which is a 4% growth.
The Finance Ministry gave this information on Thursday. The ministry said in a statement that the GST collection for September 2020 is four percent higher than the total GST collection for the same month last year.
‘The highest GST collections reported in the current fiscal year so far were Rs 90,917 crore in June. The lockdown-affected April and May saw meager collections of Rs 32,172 crore and Rs 62,151 crore, respectively.
The collections also fell below Rs 90,000 crore in July and August. While the mop-up stood at Rs 87,422 crore in July, these further slipped to Rs 86,449 crore in August. The GST revenues for August are 88 per cent of the GST collected in the same month last year,” as reported by Business Standard.
While the GST collection has increased in September, the auto sector has also gained momentum. When power consumption increases, the demand for petrol has also increased. At the same time, after six consecutive months of decline, India’s exports grew 5.27 percent year-on-year to $ 27.4 billion in September.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal gave this information on Thursday. He said that this is a sign of rapid revival in the Indian economy as this level of export has gone above the level of Covid-19 in East.
The top two car companies in the country, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors, registered a jump in vehicle sales in September. In the beginning of the current financial year, with the first lockdown and the gradual unlocking of the economy, this increase in sales is going to bring shock to the face of companies.
According to companies, this is a sign of revival. Apart from these, sales of Tata Motors, Honda Cars India, Skoda Auto India and Kia Motors were also improving. At the same time, due to good monsoon and increase in the minimum support price of the government, the track
Electricity consumption in the country increased by 5.6 percent year-on-year to 113.54 billion units in September. Power consumption has increased after a gap of six months from March this year. This is a sign of a spurt in sluggish industrial and commercial activity amid the Kovid-19 pandemic. Power consumption has continued to decline since March as the Corona virus pandemic and its’ lockdown to prevent it impacted economic activity. The government imposed a ‘lockdown’ on March 25, 2020.
Petrol demand in the country increased by two percent in September. The lockdown was imposed in the country in late March to prevent the spread of the corona virus epidemic. Since then, petrol sales have increased for the first time, indicating that the demand for this vehicle fuel is reaching the pre-Covid-19 level. This information has been provided by initial data of public sector petroleum companies. These companies have a market share of 90 percent.
Manufacturing sector activities in the country have improved for the second consecutive month in September. According to a monthly survey, manufacturing activities reached an eight-and-a-half year high in September due to new orders and increased production. The Manufacturing Procurement Managers Index (PMI) of IHS Market India rose to 56.8 in September. It was 52 in August. This is the highest PMI level since January 2012.
(The author is pursuing Masters in Financial Economics from Madras School of Economics, Chennai)
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