Generation of electronic permits in January for goods shipment within and across states came off the peak seen at the end of the fiscal third quarter but remained above 82.4 million, official data showed, indicating that the New Year has started off with robust economic activity.
E-way bill generation in January is a notch below the 84.1 million seen in December, but it is the third straight month of remaining above 80 million and higher than the 68.8 million seen in January last year. Early e-way bill trend in the last quarter of the financial year points to the possibility of revenue collections remaining strong.
Another high-frequency indicator, the seasonally-adjusted S&P Global India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), showed earlier this month that manufacturing activity in the country recorded the 19th successive monthly improvement in operating conditions in January. Despite falling from the high of 57.8 in December, the manufacturing PMI figure remained above its long-run average, backed by demand resilience and favourable economic conditions supporting sales. PMI is based on a survey, while e-way bills generation is based on actual supplies that require transportation.
The government has assumed a growth of about 12% in GST revenue collections in FY24. Going by that, the average monthly GST receipts in FY24 could be in the range of ₹1.68 trillion, a senior government official said on condition of anonymity.
RBI governor Shaktikanta Das pointed out in his statement on monetary policy on Wednesday that in several sectors such as cement, steel, mining and chemicals, there are signs that additional capacity is being created in the private sector. The governor also said that while seasonally adjusted capacity utilization was at 74.5% in the fiscal second quarter, the drag from net external demand, on the other hand, continued as merchandise exports contracted in the third quarter.
With the government now pursuing a strategy of infrastructure-led growth, policymakers are optimistic that private investment, which is showing signs of improvement, will further accelerate.
The Economic Survey for FY23 said last month that cleaner balance sheets of banking, non-banking and the corporate sectors have led to a fresh credit cycle, as is evident from double-digit growth in bank credit over the past months.
Source from: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/jan-e-way-bill-generation-ebbs-from-peak-but-still-robust-11676047623702.html