Centre releases additional ₹1.09 lakh crore tax devolution as July GST collections cross ₹2.11 lakh crore

The Union government on Saturday released an additional ₹1,09,019 crore as tax devolution to states, days after India's gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections crossed the ₹2 lakh crore mark again in July, underscoring robust tax revenues and providing states with additional fiscal resources to step up capital expenditure and development spending.    

The additional tax devolution, released ahead of the regular monthly transfer scheduled for August 10, is over and above the normal monthly devolution, the Finance Ministry said. The advance release is aimed at strengthening the finances of states and enabling them to accelerate infrastructure creation and developmental projects.    

The move comes after gross GST collections rose 15.45% year-on-year to over ₹2.11 lakh crore in July, driven by strong domestic economic activity and higher revenue from imports. Collections had stood at ₹1.83 lakh crore in July last year and around ₹1.95 lakh crore in June this year.    

After accounting for refunds of ₹29,968 crore, which increased 13.1% from a year ago, net GST collections stood at over ₹1.81 lakh crore.    

During July, Central GST (CGST) collections were ₹39,835 crore, State GST (SGST) collections stood at ₹47,881 crore, while Integrated GST (IGST) collections exceeded ₹1.23 lakh crore.    

Among the states, Uttar Pradesh received the highest share of the additional tax devolution at ₹19,208 crore, followed by Bihar (₹10,845 crore), Madhya Pradesh (₹8,010 crore), West Bengal (₹7,866 crore), Maharashtra (₹7,022 crore), Rajasthan (₹6,460 crore) and Odisha (₹4,819 crore).    

Other key allocations include Andhra Pradesh (₹4,597 crore), Karnataka (₹4,504 crore), Tamil Nadu (₹4,466 crore), Gujarat (₹4,094 crore), Kerala (₹2,597 crore), Telangana (₹2,370 crore) and Punjab (₹2,176 crore).    

Among the northeastern states, Assam received ₹3,552 crore, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (₹1,476 crore), Tripura (₹699 crore), Meghalaya (₹688 crore), Manipur (₹682 crore), Mizoram (₹615 crore), Nagaland (₹524 crore) and Sikkim (₹365 crore).    

The Centre said the additional devolution will provide states with greater fiscal space to boost capital expenditure, fund welfare programmes and support economic growth, while the strong GST collections reflect resilient domestic demand and continued buoyancy in tax revenues.