GST collections cross ₹1.94 lakh crore as festive buying lifts October

Gross goods and services tax collections rose to ₹1.94 lakh crore in October, up 9.1% from a year earlier, as festive spending on electronics, cars and gold lifted both domestic and import revenue.

Imports did a third of the work

Tax on imports grew faster than tax on domestic sales. Electronics and gold together accounted for roughly a third of the increase, officials said.

Southern states led

Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana grew faster than the national average, while collections in some northern states were flat. Economists said the numbers point to a steady, if uneven, pickup in consumption.