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India's tax collection from the sale of goods and services soared 28 per cent to Rs 1.43 trillion in July aided by rising demand, higher rates, and greater compliance.

The GST collection remained above the Rs 1.4-trillion mark for the sixth straight month in August and the ensuing festival season will help continue the trend.

Better reporting coupled with economic recovery has have a "positive impact on the GST revenues on a consistent basis, the finance ministry said in a statement.

The gross GST revenue collected in August 2022 is Rs 1.43 trillion of which CGST is Rs 24,710 crore, SGST is Rs 30,951 crore, IGST is Rs 77,782 crore (including Rs 42,067 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 10,168 crore (including Rs 1,018 crore collected on import of goods), the ministry said.

The revenues for the month of August 2022 are 28 per cent higher than the GST revenues of Rs 1,12,020 crore collected in August 2021.

"The growth in GST revenue till August 2022 over the same period last year is 33 per cent, continuing to display very high buoyancy. This is a clear impact of various measures taken by the Council in the past to ensure better compliance, the Ministry said.

The collection in August is, however, lower than Rs 1.49 trillion collected in July. The mop up was at a record high of Rs 1.67 trillion in April.

KPMG in India Partner Indirect Tax Abhishek Jain said, "The consistent high collections indicate upward economic trajectory despite fluctuating COVID cases and to some extent attributable to inflation and better compliance being ensured by the government."

N A Shah Associates, Partner, Indirect Tax, Parag Mehta said the collection increase is due to better compliance and the removal of various exemptions from July 2022.

"Further, with the festive season setting in, the collections for the next 2-3 months will also show an upward trajectory, Mehta said.

Deloitte India Partner MS Mani said the collections reflect the strength of the underlying economic factors.

"With the onset of the festival season, which is typically a large consumption driver for all businesses, the GST collections in the coming months would also be expected to be robust," Mani added.

Nexdigm, Director Indirect Tax, Sanjay Chhabria said higher collections are signs of recovery of trade & economy post the COVID-19 pandemic and we could continue to witness such higher tax buoyancy during the upcoming festivities in the country.

ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said looking ahead, the YoY growth in GST collections is likely to remain well above 20 per cent in September 2022, before tempering down to 12-15 per cent in December quarter, on a normalising base, trending close to the nominal GDP expansion.

"We continue to foresee a considerable upside in the CGST collections relative to the FY2023 BE, more than offsetting the expected loss in excise collections," Nayar said.

The idea of smart grid, of which a smart meter is a sub-set, is to increase the efficiency of power usage by the introduction of bi-directional flow of information from utilities to consumers, and vice-versa. This can be possible by the introduction of ‘Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)’. The information about electrical consumption of a consumer is recorded in a timely manner, and this data is aggregated and analysed by ‘smart meters’ installed at consumer premises. The analysed data is communicated to utilities using the AMI. The AMI includes the advanced communication system, including home area networks (HAN), neighbourhood area networks (NAN), and wide area networks (WAN).

It is not as if it is only the power distributor’s hands that are strengthened. It is a two-way street. The consumers’ hands too are strengthened with the distributor alerting to wastage at the consumer end, which they can plug instantly — say, for example, a television drawing power though not in use; the same is the case with an air-conditioner that may not be in use, but power is consumed if the power switch of the appliance is not switched off.

Such alerts galvanise somnolent consumers into action, resulting in prevention of guzzling and heightened bills. Consumers can also monitor their consumption on a daily basis and accordingly initiate suitable measures as against the present norm of waking up with a shudder when the bill lands in our letterbox/inboxes. When metering becomes fairer and advanced like higher peak-time rates as in Malaysia, the utility of real time information would be even more — shifting peak loads to leaner times of the day wherever possible to avoid peak time tariffs. A smart meter also enables switching from conventional power to renewable energy (like solar) thanks to the two-way communication which is its centrepiece.

The PGCIL’s weak alibi is that the latest technology is as yet unproven. Really? One doesn’t have to go very far. The Tata Power Delhi Distribution, which supplies electricity in the north and north-west Delhi, last year chose the latest platform and connectivity technology — Narrow Band Internet of Things (NBIoT). This technology can work with 4G and 5G networks.

Surprisingly, the PGCIL has tweaked the technology requirement from the latest to the dated in the tender inviting bids for setting up 10 million smart meters just days before the bid closed on August 30.

The atavistic instinct for hurtling to obsolete technology is a throwback to State-run BSNL remaining a 2G service provider for long when its fleet-footed private sector competitors were progressing from generation to generation. The PGCIL cannot pivot, and smugly counter saying unlike in the telecom sector, in the power sector competing for custom is not yet on.

At any rate, it would be wasteful and cynical to embrace a dated technology, even if it is cheaper only to report sub-optimal results at the end of the day, when enthusiastic adoption of the state-of-the art tech can prevent the downside of such short-sighted courses of action. We are in a fortunate position to have requisite technology that can make a huge difference to the power sector.

As India grows so does its power needs, and astute usage of power is crucial for India’s development. Seen from such a prism, the decision to make good with outdated technology will hamper India’s growth in the years to come. Therefore, it would be foolish to embrace junked technology.

India's manufacturing activity improved in August, although S&P Global's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) edged down to 56.2 from eight-month high of 56.4 recorded in July.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion in activity, while a sub-50 print is a sign of contraction.

This is the 14th consecutive 50-plus print for the manufacturing PMI.

Firms were at their most optimistic for six years," S&P Global said.