The Goods and Services Tax revenue collection for February was Rs 1,33,026 crore, the Union Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday. This is marginally lower than January’s collection of Rs 1,38,394 crore.

In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry said that the collection has remained over Rs 1.30 lakh for the fifth consecutive month. It said that February’s revenue was 18% higher than the collection in the same month last year.

“During the month [February 2022], revenues from import of goods was 38% higher and the revenues from domestic transaction [including import of services] are 12% higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year,” it said.

Chart shows month-by-month comparison of GST collection between 2021 and 2022. Source: Ministry of Finance/PIB

Of the total revenue amount, Central GST was Rs 24,435 crore, State GST Rs 30,779 crore, Integrated GST (applied on supply of goods and services between two states) Rs 67,471 crore and cess Rs 10,340 crore.

“The government has settled Rs 26,347 crore to CGST and Rs 21,909 crore to SGST from IGST,” it said. “The total revenue of Centre and the states in the month of February 2022 after regular settlement is Rs 50,782 crore for CGST and Rs 52,688 crore for the SGST.”

The ministry said that it was for the first time that the GST cess collection crossed Rs 10,000 crore mark since the tax scheme was implemented. It said this signified that key sectors, especially automobile sales, have recovered. Several sectors in India had been adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The ministry said that the revenue collection in February is lower as compared to January as there are only 28 days in the month.

“This high growth during February 2022 should also be seen in the context of partial lockdowns, weekend and night curfews and various restrictions that were put in place by various states due to the Omicron wave, which peaked around 20th January,” the ministry said.