November GST Revenue Inches Up 0.7% To Rs 1.70 Lakh Crore Amid Soft Domestic Demand

India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections registered only a marginal rise in November 2025, even as the overall financial-year performance remained solid, according to provisional data released by the government. Gross GST revenue stood at ₹1,70,276 crore, up 0.7% from ₹1,69,016 crore in November 2024.

The slight uptick follows a much stronger performance in October 2025, when gross GST mop-up rose 4.6% to around ₹1.95 lakh crore compared to ₹1.87 lakh crore collected a year earlier.

Year-to-Date Collections Stay Firm
Despite November’s subdued growth, the April–November 2025 period maintained strong momentum.
Gross GST revenue for the first eight months of FY26 reached ₹14,75,488 crore, marking a robust 8.9% year-on-year rise.
Net GST revenue for November stood at ₹1,52,079 crore, up 1.3% compared to last year, while year-to-date net revenue reached ₹12,79,434 crore, growing 7.3% annually.

Refunds Show Mixed Trajectory
Refund trends remained uneven. Total refunds stood at ₹18,196 crore, down 4% year-on-year. Export refunds, however, rose 3.5%, indicating continued resilience in outbound shipments, while domestic refunds fell sharply by 12%, reflecting softer domestic activity.

Domestic Revenue Slips, Imports Provide Support
Domestic GST revenue weakened in November as collections fell 2.3% year-on-year, largely due to reduced IGST inflows on domestic transactions. Gross domestic revenue amounted to ₹1,24,300 crore, down from ₹1,27,281 crore in November 2024.

By contrast, GST from imports continued to show strength. Gross import revenue rose to ₹45,976 crore, a solid 10.2% increase from last year, helping cushion overall revenues.

Sharp Drop in Compensation Cess
The compensation cess, still levied as a transitional measure for states, registered a significant fall. Net cess revenue dropped to ₹4,006 crore in November from ₹12,950 crore a year ago, a steep 69% decline.

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State-Wise Performance: Northeast Leads, Large States Falter
GST collection trends across states remained mixed, with notable divergences between smaller Northeastern states and major industrial hubs.

Northeastern outperformers:
Arunachal Pradesh (+33%), Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya and Assam — all posted positive growth.

Sharp declines:
Mizoram (-41%), Sikkim (-35%) and Ladakh (-28%), highlighting volatility in smaller tax bases.

Major states:
Maharashtra (+3%), Karnataka (+5%) and Kerala (+7%) recorded moderate gains.
Meanwhile, Gujarat (-7%), Tamil Nadu (-4%), Uttar Pradesh (-7%), Madhya Pradesh (-8%) and West Bengal (-3%) saw notable declines in collections.

Union Territories:
Andaman & Nicobar Islands grew 9%, while Lakshadweep saw an 85% contraction.
 
Vivek Jalan, Partner at Tax Connect Advisory Services, A Multi-disciplinary PAN India Taxation Firm said ’One needs to understand a bit of economics to understand the muted GST Consumptions in the backdrop of a robust GDP tailwind. GDP = C+I+G+(X-M) whereas GST collections = F(Consumption). To simplify the economics formula, GST Collections is a function of the consumption in the Economy, whereas GDP is a function of Government Expenditure, Investment and trade surplus also alongwith consumption. The increase in GDP had a major component of increased Government expenditure which, when discounted, gives a muted GST Collection. Furthermore, is the impact of GST 2.0 rate reduction. This explains a Gross GST collections increase of only 0.7% In November 2025 in the backdrop of a robust GST growth of 8% for H1 of 25-26. Hence, it seems that the Economy has some work to do in the balance part of the year to keep the Fiscal Deficit in check.

It is also important to note that as I had forecasted last month, GST 2.0 has created or deepened an inverted duty structure in many sectors like packaging, farming, pharma, etc. All such taxpayers have applied for inverted duty refunds in November 2025. These refunds would be sanctioned in December 2025 in all probability and hence the increase in consumption has to balance this impact too going forward to continue the GST bandwagon.'