GST collections in March touched a record high of over Rs 1.23 lakh crore, a 27 per cent growth over the year-ago period, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday.

"GST revenues crossed above Rs 1 lakh crore mark at a stretch for the last six months and a steep increasing trend over this period are clear indicators of rapid economic recovery post pandemic," the ministry said.

Closer monitoring against fake-billing, deep data analytics using data from multiple sources including GST, income tax and customs IT systems and effective tax administration have also contributed to the steady increase in tax revenue over last few months, it added.

The gross GST revenue collected in the month of March 2021 stood at Rs 1,23,902 crore, of which central GST is Rs 22,973 crore, state GST is Rs 29,329 crore, integrated GST is Rs 62,842 crore (including Rs 31,097 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 8,757 crore (including Rs 935 crore collected on import of goods).

"GST revenues during March 2021 are the highest since introduction of GST. In line with the trend of recovery in the GST revenues over past five months, the revenues for the month of March 2021 are 27 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year," the ministry said in a statement.