Uttar Pradesh tops Tamil Nadu in GST collection: Myth and reality
₹12,290 crore, against ₹12,210 crore by Tamil Nadu. This needs to be read in context. Since the financial year closes in March, April tends to report higher collection than all other months, and is a one-off.
For May, Tamil Nadu again topped UP. In the six full years of GST, the gap in collection between Tamil Nadu and UP has actually increased, from 13% in 2018-19 to 16% in 2023-24. Between 2018-19 and 2023-24, India's GST collection grew at a compounded annual rate of 11.7%.
There were 21 states and union territories with a population of 7 million or more that accounted for about 96% of GST mop-up in 2023-24. Of the six-most populous states, five trailed the national average—in descending order of population, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Maharashtra was the exception, and unlike the other five, it’s always been an economic leader.
Besides Maharashtra, six other states bettered the national average for growth in GST collections. These are, in descending order of growth, Odisha, Kerala, Haryana, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh. Kerala and Jammu & Kashmir have a relatively small tax base.
But three of these outperforming states recorded GST collections of above ₹1 trillion in 2023-24, namely Maharashtra, Karnataka and Haryana. Even in the older system, economically, these three states were among the better-performing ones. In the older tax system that preceded GST, both the Centre and states levied taxes on goods.
The Centre levied excise duty when goods left a factory. States levied sales tax when goods were sold to consumers, and those rates could vary from state to state. GST stitched these two ends for most goods, barring notable exclusions like alcohol and fuel.
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