New Delhi: Gross GST collection grew 9.9 per cent in March to over Rs 1.96 lakh crore - the second-highest mop-up ever, government data showed on Tuesday.

GST revenue from domestic transactions rose 8.8 per cent to Rs 1.49 lakh crore, while revenue from imported goods was higher 13.56 per cent to Rs 46,919 crore.

The gross collection includes Central GST mop-up of Rs 38,145 crore, State GST collection of Rs 49,891 crore and Integrated GST (IGST) of Rs 95,853 crore. Cess collection during March stood at Rs 12,253 crore.

Total refunds during March rose 41 per cent to Rs 19,615 crore.

After adjusting refunds, net GST revenue stood at over Rs 1.76 lakh crore in March 2025, a 7.3 per cent growth over the year-ago period.

GST collection had hit a record high of Rs 2.10 lakh crore in April 2024.

Deloitte India Partner MS Mani said the 9.9 per cent increase in gross GST collection for the month reflects the impact of year-end sales push by businesses.

"It is very encouraging to see that this is not an isolated instance as GST collections have shown a steady increase every month reflected by the 9.4 per cent increase in annual Gross GST collections," Mani said.

Gross GST collection during April-March stood at Rs 22.08 lakh crore, a 9.4 per cent Y-o-Y growth.

"There continues to be a wide variation in the growth rates of GST collections across key manufacturing and consuming states . While states like Maharashtra, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan have shown a growth exceeding 10 per cent, other states like Gujarat, Karnataka, Telengana, AP, Tamil Nadu have been in the range of -1 per cent to 7 per cent, which is very unusual for the month of March. There is a need to understand the reasons for the same by evaluating the sectoral growth and compliance rates in these states," Mani said.

KPMG in India, Partner and Head, Indirect Tax, Abhishek Jain said, a nearly 10 per cent growth in collections compared to last year reflects economic stability and strong tax compliance by companies.

"With fiscal year-end adjustments and reconciliations underway, we can expect a further surge in month-on-month growth in the next set of collection," Jain added.

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