The goods and services tax collection rose 11 per cent to over Rs 1.65 lakh crore in July as a result of anti-evasion measures and higher consumer spending. This is the fifth time since the rollout of the GST that monthly collections have crossed the Rs 1.60 lakh crore mark.

The Centre earned Rs 29,773 crore from GST and the states, Rs 37,623 crore. Collections from integrated GST stood at Rs 85,930 crore, including Rs 41,239 crore from the import of goods.

Cess collected was Rs 11,779 crore, including Rs 840 crore from the import of goods, the finance ministry said.

Revenues were 11 per cent higher than GST revenues in July 2022, when it was about Rs 1.49 lakh crore.

Aditi Nayar, chief economist, Icra, said: “GST collections need to exceed Rs 1.65 lakh crore per month in the remaining eight months of this fiscal to meet the FY2024 target for CGST revenues of Rs 8.1 lakh crore, which seems realistic.”

Deloitte India partner M.S. Mani said the progressive reduction in the e-invoicing turnover limits accompanied by the large increase in the number of state-wise GST audits has led to all businesses becoming more GST compliant leading to increasingly stable GST collections month after month.