New Delhi, May 2 -- The gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue has increased by 8.7% to record Rs.2.43 lakh crore in April, the first month of current financial year, as compared to Rs.2.23 lakh crore in the same month of 2025-26, with much of the growth driven by a sharp rise in import-linked revenues, a government data showed on Friday. The monthly gross collection has crossed Rs.2 lakh crore mark for the second time in a row after the GST Council rationalised tax rates in September 2025 and phased out the compensation cess. Gross GST revenue in March 2026 was Rs.2,00,064 crore. In April, gross collections were Rs.2,42,702 crore, compared to Rs.2,23,265 crore a year earlier (adjusted for compensation cess). Without adjusting for compensation cess, gross GST revenue in April 2025 was Rs.236,716 crore, historical data showed. GST revenue from imports stood at Rs.57,580 crore in April 2026 as compared to Rs.45,754 crore in the same period a year ago, marking a 25.8% jump. Gross domestic revenue, however, remained subdued with 4.3% increase to Rs.1,85,122 crore in April 2026 as against Rs.1,77,511 crore in April 2025. Despite significant refunds, neat GST revenue in April 2026 crossed Rs.2 lakh crore. After refunds of Rs.31,793 crore in April 2026 -- up by 19.3% year-on-year -- net GST collections came in at Rs.2,10,909 crore, 7.3% higher than Rs.1,96,618 crore in April 2025. Experts said revenue from imports saw a robust growth. "The trend of IGST (integrated GST) on imports contributing significantly to the overall GST collections for the month seen in recent times has continued in this month as well; this indicates that imports are on the upswing but in the absence of customs collections data for the month, it is difficult to pinpoint the reasons for the steep increase in IGST collections on imports," said MS Mani, partner at Deloitte India. "The GST collections on domestic consumption has shown a moderate growth compared to the same month in the previous year, despite the sharp rate reductions in GST rates from September 25, indicating a good increase in domestic consumption on a similar-rate-basis," he added. Experts said robust gross revenue in April this year is also because of impact of year-end collections. Mani said April data show collections related to transactions took place in March 2026, which was the year-end normally reporting maximum transactions. To be sure, revenues of a particular month reflect actual business activities of previous month. Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner at EY India raised a "note of caution for the quarter ahead". "April's record figures reflect the year-end push for targets by both industry and administrators. As we transition into the new fiscal year, we should anticipate a stabilization in the coming months, with collections likely seeing a sequential dip in both absolute and percentage terms as the market recalibrates," he said. April 2026 collections at mark a historic high, said Abhishek Jain, indirect tax head & partner, KPMG. "While year-end adjustments invariably provide a cyclical boost, a record of this magnitude does reflect an underlying economic resilience that cannot be entirely discounted. The stable revenue buoyancy clearly reflects stronger tax administration, digital enforcement and widening of the tax base," he added....