India’s consumption stands its ground amid Gulf War tremors
Gross GST collections rose 8.7% to ₹2.43 lakh crore in April, surpassing the ₹2.37 lakh crore collected in April last year.
According to industry estimates, automobile companies sold 445,417 cars, sedans and commercial vehicles in the domestic market in April; This figure increased by 25% compared to 356,113 units sold in the same month last year.
Digital transactions through the Unified Payment Interface grew 25% month-on-month compared to the previous year, with the value rising 21% to ₹29 lakh crore.
The winds continue
“The strong increase in GST collections underscores the fundamental resilience of the Indian consumption story,” said Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner, EY India.
Electricity consumption in April increased by 4.04% compared to the previous year, reaching 153.99 billion units. Rail freight loading remained stable at 132 million tonnes (mt) in April, compared to 133 mt in the previous year.
The strong growth suggests that the impact of the West Asian war has not yet filtered through to the economy, which faces high commercial cooking gas prices, input supply problems and stagnant global demand.
“We continue to see headwinds such as GST cuts, decline in repo rates and hike in income tax ceiling and have not seen any impact of the West Asian crisis on domestic demand so far,” said Partho Banerjee, Senior Chief Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki.
GST collections
Net GST increase rose 7.3% to ₹2.11 lakh crore. Experts expect GST collections to settle at lower levels in the coming period.
“We should expect a stabilization in the coming months as collections will see a sequential decline in both absolute and percentage terms as the market readjusts,” Agarwal said.
The growth was driven by a sharp 26% increase in import-related GST duties, which stood at ₹57,580 crore. Collections from stable domestic consumption recorded a more moderate growth of 4.3%.
Pratik Jain, partner at Price Waterhouse & Co LLP, said: “Import-based revenue growth continues to outpace domestic transactions, which may indicate some softness in consumption, possibly reflecting a moderation in discretionary spending amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainties.”
car sales
Market leader Maruti Suzuki reported its best-ever monthly sales in April. The company sold 187,704 passenger vehicles last month; This figure increased by 35% compared to the same period of the previous year.
Tata Motors recorded a sales increase of 30.5% to 59,000 units, while Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) increased by 7.6% to 56,331 units. Hyundai took fourth place in the hierarchy.
Tarun Garg, MD and CEO, Hyundai Motor India (HMIL), said, “We have opened the new financial year on a strong note, carrying forward the momentum we have gained in recent months to April 2026.”
