GST collections rise 8% in February

India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections rose 8.1 per cent in February to over Rs 1.83 lakh crore, driven by higher import revenues and stronger domestic consumption.

Gross domestic revenue increased 5.3 per cent to about Rs 1.36 lakh crore, while gross revenue from imports jumped 17.2 per cent to Rs 47,837 crore. Total refunds also went up 10.2 per cent to Rs 22,595 crore.

Net GST collections stood at over Rs 1.61 lakh crore, up 7.9 per cent year-on-year. Net cess revenue fell to Rs 5,063 crore from Rs 13,481 crore in February last year. The decline follows the GST rate rationalisation implemented in September 2025, which reduced rates on around 375 items and merged the earlier four slabs of 5, 12, 18, and 28 per cent into two main slabs of 5 per cent and 18 per cent, with a 40 per cent slab for select luxury and tobacco products.

After an initial dip to Rs 1.70 lakh crore in November following the tax cut, collections steadily rose to Rs 1.74 lakh crore in December and Rs 1.93 lakh crore in January.