NEW DELHI, March 11 -- E-way bills generated for shipping goods within and across states dipped 3.1% in February from the previous month, but remained the third highest yet, pointing to robust movement of consignments across ports, factories and retail outlets. Data from the Goods and Services Tax Network, which processes GST returns, showed that 132.5 million electronic permits were raised in February, compared with 136.8 million permits in January. In February 2025, 111.6 million permits were raised. "While the figures show a marginal moderation compared with January 2026, this movement is largely seasonal rather than indicative of any structural slowdown," said Rajat Mohan, a senior partner at AMRG & Associates, a chartered accountancy firm. "February is a shorter month, and trade activity often softens slightly after the relatively stronger logistics movement seen in January." February's e-way bill statistics indicate that supply chain activity across the country remains resilient and broadly aligned with the upward trajectory of the past few years, he said. Commercial activity is typically stronger in March as businesses accelerate transactions toward the financial year-end, said Mohan. "Consequently, if current supply chain trends continue, GST collections for March are expected to remain strong and could potentially witness an uptick compared with February's, supported by year-end settlements, inventory movements, and higher invoicing activity across sectors," added Mohan. Monthly e-way bill generation increased by 2.9 million to 132 million in September from the August level after the GST Council announced sharp cuts in the tax rates, which were implemented on 22 September, the data showed. After a dip to 126.8 million bills in October, e-way bill generation shot up to 129.8 million in November and then to an all-time high of 138.3 million in December as the festive season peaked, coinciding with the third quarter inventory clearance by businesses. The festive season spurs demand for consumer durables, vehicles, gold, clothing, travel and sweets. The season starts with Ganesh Chaturthi in August and continues with Dusshera, Dhanteras, Deepavali, Chat Pooja and Christmas. Overall manufacturing conditions based on new orders, output, jobs, supplier delivery times and stocks of purchases improved at the fastest rate in February, S&P Global said earlier this month, citing its purchasing manager survey. Among other high-frequency indicators, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations said automobile sales increased almost 26% to a record 2.4 million units in February, surpassing the previous best performance for the month in February 2024. The association said February turned out to be a landmark month for the Indian auto retail sector, strengthening the positive momentum after the GST 2.0 announcement. It said the industry's performance was "exceptional." Consumption of petrol, diesel and jet fuel shot up in February from levels in January, in terms of daily average consumption volumes, according to data available with the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. Higher energy consumption is associated with development....