According to latest official data that had been released the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in March came in at a record Rs 1.06 lakh crore, but not enough to meet the Union government’s target for the fiscal year ended March 31.

The Centre, which had upwardly revised fiscal deficit target to accommodate the cash-dole-out plan to farmers, was banking on its share of estimated GST collections of Rs 5.03 lakh crore out of about Rs 11.47 lakh crore in total mop-up for 2018-19.

But, the final numbers showed gross central GST coming in at Rs 4.25 lakh crore, about Rs 78,000 crore short of what the Centre was targeting.

GST, which was rolled out from July 1, 2017, subsumed 17 central and state levies and collections thereof are divided into three broad heads – central GST (which accrues to the Union Government), state GST (which goes to states) and integrated GST (that is divided equally between the centre and the state).

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in a tweet said the record collections in March “indicates the expansion in both manufacturing and consumption”.

The record collection in March, 2019 of the GST touching ₹1,06,577 crore indicates the expansion in both manufacturing and consumption. — Chowkidar Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) April 1, 2019

Collections in direct taxes – made up of income tax and corporate tax – may as well fall short of the targeted Rs 12 lakh crore as only Rs 10.21 lakh crore was collected till March 23.

In a statement, the finance ministry said the monthly average of GST revenue during 2018-19 is Rs 98,114 crore, 9.2 per cent higher than the previous fiscal.

“These figures indicate that the revenue growth has been picking up in recent months, despite various rate rationalisation measures,” it said.

The gross collections during 2018-19 fiscal totalled a little over Rs 11.77 lakh crore.