Winning Bizness Economic Desk

The country’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection hit an all-time high in the last fiscal (FY 25) at Rs 22.08-lakh-crore. This marks a 9.4 per cent northward movement Year-on-Year (YoY) as compared to the previous year.

India’s government in a press release said that “in 2024-25, GST recorded its highest-ever gross collection of Rs 22.08-lakh-crore, reflecting a YoY growth of 9.4 per cent. The average monthly collection stood at Rs 1.84-lakh-crore.”

The data also showed that gross collections doubled in the last five-years as compared to Rs 11.37-lakh-crore in the fiscal year 2020-21 (FY 21).

The monthly average collection of Goods and Services Tax was Rs 95,000-crore during that time.

As of April 30, 2025, there are more than 1.51-crore active GST registrations in the country, with over 1.32-crore as normal tax-payers, 14.86-lakh composition tax-payers and 3.71-lakh as Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) among other taxable portions.

“In 2020-21, the total collection was Rs 11.37-lakh-crore, with a monthly average of Rs 95,000-crore. The following year it rose to Rs 14.83-lakh-crore and then to Rs 18.08-lakh-crore in 2022-23. In 2023-24, the GST collections reached Rs 20.18-lakh-crore showing consistent growth in compliance and economic activity,” said the government in the release.

On July 1, 2025, the country will mark the completion of eight-years since the implementation of the GST regime.

NLC India to Invest Rs 1,630-crore in Renewable Energy Subsidiary

NLC India’s Board has granted an in-principle approval to invest up to Rs 1,630.89-crore in one or more tranches in NLC India Renewables Limited (NIRL).

NIRL is a wholly-owned subsidiary for renewable businesses.

The investment will be by way of subscription of equity shares at face value subject to necessary approvals from the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) and other authorities, and will go towards funding the green energy projects of NIRL, an exchange filing by NLC stated.

The public sector mining and power generation company’s Board also approved borrowing in the form of a term loan in Japanese Yen, equivalent to USD 100-million through External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) from Japanese blue-chip Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

This will go towards capex funding of renewable projects to be undertaken by the company through its subsidiaries/group companies, the company said.

NIRL is a wholly-owned subsidiary formed by NLC for development of renewable projects in the country.

The company presently has an installed renewable energy generation capacity of 1,431 MW.

Chennai’s Real Estate Demand Steady but Institutional Investors Pull Back

In an important development, while the demand remains steady, institutional investors have pulled back big-time from Chennai’s real estate market in the first-half of 2025 (H1 2025).

This development comes amidst global uncertainty, slower deal closures and cautious capital deployment.

On the ground, demand across key asset classes remains steady and many believe the current lull is more of a pause than a pull-out.

Data from Colliers shows that the southern metropolis attracted only USD 48.3-million in institutional investments during H1 2025—a steep southward slide from the USD 154.1-million in the same period of the last year.

An important point to note here is that the second-quarter (Q2) witnessed no recorded in-flows at all, compared to USD 33-million in Q2 of 2024.

This steep decline stands in contrast to the momentum built last year, when overall capital in-flows into the city nearly tripled to USD 500-million.

According to industry experts, this sharp drop reflects delays and recalibration, not decreasing demand.

“Despite the dip in deal closures, Chennai’s fundamentals remain solid, particularly in the office and industry segments,” a leading publication quoted Mr Vimal Nadar, Head of Research at Colliers India as saying.

While capital flows may be on hold, the metropolis’ real estate market is still active. Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu registered a 5.5-million sq ft of Grade A office leasing in the first-half of 2025. This is up 57 per cent from the year-ago period.

A point that needs highlighting here is that vacancy rates have slid to 13.4 per cent while rents have registered a northward movement.

In the industry and logistics segment, demand continued to remain strong at two-million sq ft in the first-quarter (Q1), even though an increase in supply pushed vacancy rates up to ten per cent.

India’s Industrial Production Rises at Slowest Pace in May

The country’s industrial production grew a measly 1.2 per cent in May of this year—its slowest pace in nine-months.

Data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) revealed that manufacturing momentum weakened while the output of both—mining and electricity—also slipped.

The May number stands dramatically in contrast to the year-ago’s (2024) number of a healthy 6.3 per cent expansion, highlighting the continuing stress across core sectors of the economy.

It must be pointed out here that the Ministry has revised April’s growth number to 2.6 per cent which is still higher than the May number.

Industrial production through last year remained volatile, zooming-up in May but flattening by August, reflecting a lack of consistent recovery. The weak May figure reflects a fragile and uneven rebound in industrial activity, amid dormant domestic demand, global economic uncertainty and sector-specific challenges.

Manufacturing, which constitutes almost 78 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), witnessed an output increase of 2.6 per cent in May, down from the 3.1 per cent in April and sharply lower than the 5.1 per cent registered in May 2024.

Mining output and electricity generation both slid southward—the former by 0.1 per cent on top of a 0.2 per cent contraction in April of this year while the latter shrank a sharp 5.8 per cent, the steepest slide in over a year.

This is in comparison to the 1.7 per cent growth a month earlier and 13.7 per cent in the same period last year.

Among use-based classification, capital goods stood out, registering a 14.1 per cent growth, slightly above April’s 14 per cent and well ahead of the 2.6 per cent growth of the year-ago period.

The production of intermediate goods expanded 3.5 per cent, slower than the 4.9 per cent growth in April but at the same level as last year’s.

The infrastructure and construction goods output jumped 6.3 per cent, higher than April’s 4.7 per cent though lower than the 7.6 per cent growth of last year.

An important point here is that consumer-facing sectors remained under pressure. Production of consumer durables fell 0.7 per cent after climbing 6.2 per cent in April and 12.6 per cent in the previous year.

Consumer non-durables contracted 2.4 per cent, an improvement from the 2.7 per cent decline in April but still below the 2.8 per cent growth in May of last year.

Banana Becomes Country’s Most Exported Fruit in FY 25

India’s bananas overtook grapes in FY 25 (last fiscal) to become the country’s top fruit export with shipments valued at USD 377.5-million.

Banana exports expanded 29.7 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) and have grown seven-fold since FY 18.

In contrast, grape exports have moved northward just 16 per cent over the past eight years.

According to industry experts, this shift is due to lower prices and rising demand from the Middle-East.

The Middle-Eastern push is clearly visible in trade data with Iraq accounting for 47 per cent of India’s total exports in FY 25. This is a whopping 108 per cent increase from the previous year.

Other major buyers include Iran, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar.

The Commerce Ministry data also shows signs of trade diversification. A doubling of banana exports to the central Asian country—Uzbekistan—has helped it emerge as India’s second-largest banana importer last fiscal (FY 25).

While the Middle-East leads in banana imports, the Netherlands, Russia and the United Kingdom (UK) accounted for over 60 per cent of the country’s grape exports.

Bananas and grapes made up 59.2 per cent of India’s total fruit exports in FY 25, up from the 44.4 per cent in FY 18.

This growth comes as India’s overall fruit and nut exports rose steeply 53 per cent from USD 806.9-million in FY 18 to USD 1.24-billion in FY 25.