Hi ! Good Morning everyone !

Report of Gross revenue from Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections at Rs 1.04 lakh crore in November elated me.A good sign of revival as reflected in the Q2 contraction which is less than half of that seen in Q1.Two consecutive months collecting more than Rs 1 lakh crore is indeed a ray of hope ! This brings the total centre’s GST collections to about Rs.6.6 lakh crore till date[~47%] against the target of Rs.13.8 lakh crore set for FY 21. If the trend is maintained in the remaining months, the government may still fall short of about Rs 3 lakh crore but considering the way the economy was totally shut down for more than sixty days, this is a commendable collection.Though it is early to predict the trajectory,there is enough scope to be optimistic.

However, much remains on the course of resurgence of corona which has given a body blow to many EU and several other nations.Luckily, the intensity is not so high till date and any relaxation in the norms of ‘social vaccine’ at this stage may prove fatal for the nation, more so with the winter in full swing and with several states reporting a relentless uptick in the number of cases.A durable and sustainable recovery now rests with the way we the people implement the norms apart from the role played by all the political parties in ensuring peaceful and harmonious environs, if need be by differing for a shorter period felt fit,the proposed farm laws which invoked undue fears and fierce demonstrations with mass gatherings,election meetings or victory rallies etc which may tailspin the outcome by acting as ‘super spreaders’ ! Let there be no scope for any kind of mass gatherings hereafter at least til the end of the fiscal year for us to march on! Let us strive together to keep the economy buoyant !

This is Ramana Gove signing off till we meet next time !