Bengal witnessed 11.43 pc GST growth: Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata, April 6 (IANS) West Bengal has witnessed an 11.43 per cent growth in Goods & Services Tax (GST) collection during the financial year 2024-25 over the corresponding figure achieved during the previous financial year of 2023-24, the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed on Sunday.

“In GST in 2024-2025, we have collected Rs 4,808 crore more than the preceding year, which shows 11.43 per cent growth. This is 2 per cent more than the national level (9.44 per cent), and is demonstrative of our increasing internal financial strength,” claimed the Chief Minister.

She also claimed that the state has witnessed exceptional growth in the collection of registration and stamp duty during the financial year under review.

“In registration and stamp duty, the number of deeds registered has increased by 60 thousand, which shows the dynamism of our market. The collection in 2024-2025 has been Rs 1,908 crore more than the previous year, which is a growth of 31.05 per cent,” said the Chief Minister.

She said that the improved collection figures, both in terms of GST as well as registration and stamp duty, show how focused the state government is on being self-reliant and enforcing financial discipline.

She also claimed that her administration is serious about streamlining the state finances for the welfare of the people of West Bengal.

Economic analysts, however, feel that improvement in GST and registration and stamp duty collections does not give a 360-degree picture of the fiscal discipline of any state government.

They added that the real picture of financial discipline is reflected in factors like the state’s own revenue mobilisation, quality of expenditure, and debt index. However, as per the latest report on the ‘Fiscal Health Index: 2025’ released by NITI Aayog earlier this year, West Bengal projects sorrowful figures in terms of these three economic indicators.

In the said report, where the financial year 2022-23 has been mainly taken as the fiscal year under review, the fiscal health of a total of 18 Indian states has been reviewed, and West Bengal has ranked 16th among these 18 states.

–IANS

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