India’s goods and services tax (GST) collection in April rose by 8.7 percent year on year to Rs 2.43 lakh crore. This is the highest level of GST collection so far in any month. Net GST revenue stood at Rs 2.11 lakh crore, up 7.3 percent from a year earlier.
In April 2025, the GST collection stood at Rs 2.23 lakh crore, while in March 2026, it was Rs 2 lakh crore. The month of April generally remains the strongest in terms of GST collections as inventory of the previous financial year gets cleared.
The year-on-year growth of 8.7 percent in April is marginally lower than the growth of 8.7 percent in March.
GST refunds also posted a rise during the month. Total refunds increased by 19.3 percent to Rs 31,793 crore. The rise was led by a 54.6 percent jump in domestic refunds and was somewhat offset by a 14 percent decline in export-related refunds.
After accounting for refunds, the rise in net GST collection stood at around 7.3 percent year on year.
While the collections have reached a record level in April, the rise is driven by higher import revenues as domestic consumption is facing pressure from war-induced inflationary pressure.
Data shows that gross domestic revenue increased by 4.3 percent year on year to Rs 1.85 lakh crore. On the other hand, import-related GST revenue surged 25.8 percent to Rs 57,580 crore.
Hence, the rise in revenue collection was largely driven by external trade rather than domestic demand.
It has been over two months since the conflict in West Asia triggered an energy crisis across the world. Crude oil prices have almost doubled compared to their pre-war levels, while the supply of natural gas has faced a sharp decline.
