New Delhi. In April 2024, there was a record GST collection of Rs 2.10 lakh crore in the country. The special thing is that Uttar Pradesh registered a growth of 19 percent and left Tamil Nadu behind in the monthly collection. With Rs 12,290 crore in April 2024, UP became the fourth largest contributor to GST collection after Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat. Ram temple in Ayodhya had an important contribution in this because, due to the inauguration of Ram temple in January, tourism in the state increased significantly. Experts hold this factor responsible for the recent surge in UP’s GST revenue.
Tamil Nadu, the state with the largest number of factories in the country, slipped to 5th place. Tamil Nadu’s GST collection in April 2023 was Rs 11,559 crore while UP’s was Rs 10,320 crore. This increase was seen in Uttar Pradesh’s GST collection due to strong steps to curb tax evasion and aggressive spending on infrastructure.
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Tourism will increase due to Ram temple
Given the completion of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and various initiatives, the total annual spend by tourists (domestic and foreign) in UP could cross Rs 4 lakh crore by the end of 2025, giving the state Rs 20,000-25,000 crore in FY2025. Additional tax revenue of Rs crore can be generated. According to a report by SBI Research released on January 21, the state government has taken this step to promote tourism.
In a report published on Moneycontrol, Pratik Jain, partner and national leader of indirect tax at PwC, said, “A lot of traffic was seen due to increase in religious pilgrimage around the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Due to which large scale payments were made for hotel and travel. This has generated Rs 200-300 crore in GST revenue in the last few months. According to Jain, UP’s focus on capital expenditure could boost its revenues.
Tags: Ayodhya, Ayodhya ram temple, CM Yogi Aditya Nath, GST collection
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 4, 2024, 15:03 IST