The GST collections in March grew 11.5 per cent to Rs 1.78 lakh crore (trillion), the second highest since the new indirect tax regime was introduced in 2017 buoyed by domestic transactions, the finance ministry said on Monday.

The gross GST collection for the last fiscal stood at Rs 20.18 lakh crore, 11.7 per cent higher than the mop-up in the preceding fiscal.

The average monthly gross collection for 2023-24 stood at Rs 1.68 lakh crore, more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the preceding fiscal.

The surge was driven by a significant rise in GST collections from domestic transactions at 17.6 per cent, the ministry said.

The highest-ever collection was recorded at Rs 1.87 lakh crore in April 2023.

M.S. Mani, partner, Deloitte India, said: “Record collections exceeding Rs 20 lakh crore during 2023-24 demonstrate the economic resurgence across sectors and was possible due to the various measures taken by the GST authorities to improve compliance and stamp out evasion.

“The big focus on the comparison of taxpayer behaviour across tax and corporate databases has also made businesses convinced of the need to be compliant not only on their activities but also keep track of their vendor’s tax behaviour and ensure that the entire value chain becomes compliant.”

Icra chief economist Aditi Nayar said with the central GST collections surpassing the revised estimate in the Union budget, the implicit growth needed to meet targets for the next fiscal has come down to single digits.

GST revenue net of refunds for March was Rs 1.65 lakh crore, 18.4 per cent higher over the same period a year ago.

The central goods and services tax (CGST) for March stood at Rs 34,532 crore while the state goods and services tax (SGST) was at Rs 43,746 crore.