GDP & Growth

GST (Goods and Services Tax) replaced 17 central and state taxes from July 2017, unifying India into a single market. Monthly collections crossed ₹2 lakh crore for the first time in April 2023. The GST Network (GSTN) handles ~12 crore returns per month. Baseline is 0 because GST did not exist pre-July 2017 — a comparable pre-GST combined indirect tax figure is not directly available.

ITR filings grew from ~2.2 crore in AY2004 to 9.19 crore in AY2024. Growth was gradual until 2017 (demonetisation + GST compliance push), then accelerated with pre-filled ITR, faceless assessment, and simplified new tax regime. Of ~9 crore filers, about 7 crore paid zero tax (under the basic exemption limit) — reflecting India's still-narrow formal tax base. The tax-to-GDP ratio has improved but remains below the ~18% global average for comparable economies.

India became the world's 5th largest economy by nominal GDP in 2022, overtaking the UK. In PPP terms (IMF), India is already the 3rd largest. The USD figure fluctuates with rupee–dollar exchange rates — in INR terms, GDP grew from ₹33 L Cr (FY2004-05) to ₹295 L Cr (FY2024-25 AE). GDP contracted -5.8% in FY2020-21 due to COVID-19. Growth in 2010–12 was partly driven by global commodity cycles.