July-March GST revenues: States ‘shortfall’ not true picture

At first glance, the goods and services tax’s (GST) revenue buoyancy seems unproven yet, given that 31 of 34 states/UTs in the country reported a ‘revenue shortfall’ during the July 2017-March 2018 period — among the larger states, Bihar’s deficit was 38% and Madhya Pradesh’s 26% — and received compensation. But the picture is actually not all that grim as most of these shortfalls are against the…