Giving a thumbs up to Goods and Service Tax, the Yogi government claimed that revenue collection in Uttar Pradesh has gone up by 20.22 per cent till February after the GST came into effect. An announcement in this regard was made in the Assembly on Monday.
Replying to a question of Uma Shankar Singh (BSP), Parliamentary Affairs minister Suresh Kumar Khanna said that revenue collection post GST between August, 2017 and January, 2018 was Rs 20,168.41 crore which was 15.95 per cent more than the VAT of Rs 17,394.45 crore collected in the corresponding period last year.
However, Khanna said that in February, 2018, GST collection rose to Rs 24,684.83 crore and hence the increase was 20.22 per cent as compared to VAT.
When the BSP member claimed that during December, 2017 and January, 2018, revenue collection in the state declined, the minister replied that the collection fluctuates as it depends on various issues.
The GST was implemented in UP in July 2017.
lalji Verma (BSP) asked whether increase in GST was more than the annual increase in VAT, Khanna could not elaborate whether revenue collection had actually increased after introduction of GST as VAT had also shown an annual increase.
“I am not saying that revenue collection is more than the annual increase in revenue collection when VAT was in place,” the minister said.
When asked whether UP government has any proposal to introduce GST in petrol and diesel, Khanna, who is also member of the GST Council, said that the decision was under consideration of the council.