India's Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections rose by 6.5% to ₹ 1.86 lakh in August, government data released on Monday showed.&nbsp;
GST collections have been rising steadily to remain above the ₹1.8 lakh crore mark for the eighth month in a row, reflecting the growing economic activity in the country.
The gross domestic revenue grew 9.6% to ₹1.37 lakh crore, while tax from imports dipped 1.2% to ₹ 49,354 crore in August. GST refunds were down 20% year-on-year to ₹19,359 crore.
Net GST revenue stood at ₹1.67 lakh crore in August 2025, recording 10.7% year-on-year growth.
The data has been released just ahead of the meeting of the GST Council, comprising the Centre and states, which will deliberate on introducing a two-slab GST rate of 5 and 18% on most goods, while a separate higher 40% tax will be levied on sin goods such as cigarettes, tobacco, and sugary drinks as part of the rationalisation exercise.
Buoyant tax collections in recent months have helped to strengthen the country&rsquo;s fiscal position and the macroeconomic fundamentals, which help to ensure stable growth.
Meanwhile, global investment bank and financial advisory firm Morgan Stanley has raised its forecast for India&rsquo;s GDP growth in 2025-26 on the back of the robust 7.8% growth in the April-June quarter and expects the forthcoming cuts in GST to spur domestic demand, which would offset the decline in exports due to the US tariff hike.
"We expect impending GST tax cuts, the upcoming festive season and strong trends in rural demand to provide a fillip to domestic demand. As such, we expect the composition of growth to change with public spending softening, external demand weakening (mainly goods exports) and private sector demand picking up," it said in a report.
"We estimate that the incremental drag from external demand at around 50 basis points (bps) could potentially be offset from likely GST cuts, which could boost growth by about 50bps," it observed.
For the financial year 2025-26, Morgan Stanley has revised its real GDP growth upwards to 6.7% year-on-year from 6.2% projected earlier.
&mdash;IANS

Rising GST collections boost India’s economic outlook

India’s GST collections hit ₹1.86L cr in Aug; net revenue grows 10.7% YoY

GST Collections Up 6.5% In Aug To ₹1.86L Cr

India’s GST collections hit ₹1.86L cr in Aug; net revenue grows 10.7% YoY

September 1, 2025 | 23:15 IST