People in smaller states fared better in consumption

HYDERABAD: In spite of global headwinds, India has registered a highest-ever collection of Goods and Services Tax in April, attesting the country’s impressive economic growth. This is the first time ever that India’s consumption tax collection has crossed ₹1.75 lakh-crore mark.

The gross GST collected in April 2023 was ₹ 1,87,035 crore compared to Rs 1,67,540 crore collected in April 2022. In March 2023, the GST collection stood Rs 1,60,122 crore.

Each Indian has paid Rs 1,102.96 as taxes on goods and services that he consumed in April 2023. As the Census was not conducted in 2021 because of the Covid pandemic, the per capita contribution was calculated on the basis of projected population by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as on December 31, 2020.

According to the break-up of state-wise GST collection provided by the Union finance ministry, only six states have contributed more than Rs 10,000 crore to the coffers.

Maharashtra, the most industrialised and the third most populous state in the country,  topped the list with the highest GST collection of Rs 33,196 crore. Karnataka stood as the distant second in the list with the collection of Rs 14,593 crore followed by Gujarat (Rs 11,721 crore), Tamil Nadu (Rs 11,559 crore) and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 10,320 crore) and Haryana (Rs 10,035 crore).

Only four states figure in the list of those which contributed between Rs 5,000 crore and Rs 10,000 crore. The list includes West Bengal contributing Rs 6,447 crore in consumption tax, followed by Delhi (Rs 6,320 crore), Telangana (Rs 5,622 crore) and Odisha Rs 5,036 crore.

The states which contributed between Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 4,999 crore include Rajasthan (Rs 4,785 crore), Andhra Pradesh (Rs 4,329 crore), Madhya Pradesh (Rs 4,267 crore), Jharkhand (Rs 3,701 crore), Chhattisgarh (Rs 3,508 crore), Kerala (Rs 3,010 crore), Punjab (Rs 2,316 crore), Uttarakhand (Rs 2,148 crore) Bihar (Rs 1,625 crore) and Assam (Rs 1,513 crore).

The rest of 16 states and UT have contributed less than Rs 1,000 crore. They are Himachal Pradesh (Rs 957 crore) Jammu and Kashmir (Rs 803 crore) Goa (Rs 620 crore), Sikkim (Rs 426 crore) Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Rs 399 crore) Chandigarh (Rs 255 crore), Meghalaya (Rs 239 crore), Arunachal Pradesh (Rs 238 crore), Puducherry (Rs 218 crore), Tripura    (Rs 133 crore), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Rs 92 crore), Manipur (Rs 91 crore), Nagaland (Rs 88 crore), Mizoram (Rs 71 crore), Ladakh (Rs 68 crore) and Lakshadweep (Rs 3 crore).    

On the per capita basis, however, the contribution of each citizen in Union Territories and smaller states was considerably higher than the larger states.

The highest contribution per person was made those living in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, where each person had paid on an average Rs 6,480.17 in April, followed by Sikkim Rs 6,171.67, Goa Rs 3,908.59, Haryana    Rs 3,557.92 and Delhi Rs 3,377.71.

The top 10 contributors among states and UTs having more than one crore population are  Haryana (Rs 3,557.92), Delhi (Rs 3,377.71), Maharashtra (Rs 2,695.70), Karnataka    (Rs 2,159.92), Uttarakhand (Rs 1,909.19), Gujarat (Rs 1,835.06), Tamil Nadu (Rs 1,484.94), Telangana  (Rs 1,459.84), Chhattisgarh (Rs 1,191.73) and Odisha  (Rs 1,086.37).

On a per capita basis, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala — the two states from comparatively well-developed peninsular India — have contributed less than Rs 1,000. A person in Kerala paid Rs 843.15 of GST on an average, while the person in AP paid Rs 803.10 in April.

The citizens in Bihar contributed the least to GST on a per capita basis in April. On an average, a person in Bihar paid Rs 130.20 as consumption tax — indicating poor economic growth in the state. From the bottom list, Assam followed Bihar with Rs 424.91, Uttar Pradesh Rs 433.83, Madhya Pradesh Rs 499.89, Jammu and Kashmir  590.1669224 and  Rajasthan Rs 590.50.

The per capita contribution reiterates the poor performance of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, the constituent states of acronym ‘BIMARU’ that was coined by Ashish Bose in 1985 to suggest their backwardness. In terms of the GST collection, Assam and Jammu and Kashmir also joined the BIMARU states in April 2023.