Chandigarh, July 2 -- Punjab registered a record 44% year-on-year growth in net goods and services tax (GST) collection for June 2025 and 27.01% growth for the first quarter of the 2025-26 financial year, said finance and taxation minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Tuesday. Addressing a press conference here, Cheema said that the net GST collection for June 2025 stood at Rs.2,379.90 crore, reflecting a revenue growth of Rs.732.21 crore over the Rs.1,647.69 crore collected in June 2024. "This follows monthly net growth trends of 15.35% in April and 24.59% in May. During the first quarter, the collection reached Rs.6,830.40 crore, even amidst the conflict between India and Pakistan in May 2025, compared to Rs.5,377.75 crore during the corresponding period of 2024-25," he said, after facilitating the top five taxpayers of the state, including Ambuja Cement, HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL), Samsung India Pvt Ltd, Tata Steel and Dada Motors. Launching a scathing attack on the previous SAD-BJP and Congress-led governments, Cheema claimed that while they failed to check tax evasion and improve the state's fiscal health, the AAP government has ensured consistent month-on-month and year-on-year growth. He said the present government registered a GST collection growth rate of 16.25% in financial year (FY) 2022-23, 15.51% in FY 2023-24, and 12.84% in FY 2024-25, with a total collection of Rs.62,733 crore in three years. He said that during the Congress regime from 2018-19 to 2021-22, the state merely collected Rs.55,146 crore. On the recent enforcement activities, Cheema stated that the state intelligence and preventive unit (SIPU) had uncovered a GST fraud syndicate run by an accountant who created and operated 20 fake firms for bogus billing and ITC fraud....