punjab Surpasses National Average With 14.59% Gst Growth In May 2026, Backed By Major Enforcement Breakthroughs: Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema

Jun1,2026 | Jagrati Lahar Bureau | Chandigarh

*Gross GST Collections Witness Impressive Surge of Over ₹305 Crore: Harpal Singh Cheema*

*State Revenue Base Outpaces National Trends with Strong Compliance Drives: Harpal Singh Cheema*

*Enforcement Machinery Recovers Over ₹178 Crore in Targeted Crackdowns: Harpal Singh Cheema*

*Major Fake Billing Racket Uncovered Leading to Arrest of Firm Director: Harpal Singh Cheema*

Reaffirming Punjab’s path of strong fiscal performance, Finance, Excise and Taxation Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema announced on Monday that the state has recorded a robust growth of 14.59 percent in Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections during May 2026. Finance Minister Cheema said, "The Gross GST Collection for the month reached ₹2,400.52 crore, marking a significant increase of ₹305.71 crore compared to the ₹2,094.81 crore collected during May 2025".

The Finance Minister emphasised that this impressive surge reflects sustained economic activity, improved tax compliance, and the effective execution of enforcement measures by the Excise and Taxation Department.

Revealing this in a press communique issued here, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema highlighted that Punjab’s GST performance compares exceptionally well with national trends, vastly outperforming the country’s gross GST revenue growth of approximately 3.2 percent over the corresponding month of the previous year. The Finance Minister said, "While Punjab’s cash collection growth stood at 6.57 percent, the State’s gross GST collection growth reached a much higher 14.59 percent, illustrating a strengthening state revenue base, enhanced compliance levels, and highly effective tax administration measures".

Turning to enforcement achievements, Finance Minister Cheema said, "The State Intelligence and Preventive Units (SIPUs) across Punjab delivered notable results by imposing penalties amounting to ₹182.69 crore and recovering ₹178.76 crore during May 2026 alone." He said that these substantial recoveries were driven by extensive data analytics, intelligence-based investigations, targeted verification exercises, and well-coordinated field operations conducted across the state.

Revealing a major breakthrough against tax evasion, Finance Minister Cheema said, "The Punjab Taxation Department successfully busted an ₹85.4 crore fake billing racket during May 2026 and arrested the director of a Ludhiana-based firm for allegedly availing fraudulent Input Tax Credit (ITC) amounting to ₹15.56 crore through bogus transactions". He said that investigations by SIPU exposed the use of non-existent firms, fake invoices, fraudulent debit notes, and fabricated transportation records to facilitate tax fraud, leading to the director's arrest under the Punjab Goods and Services Tax Act and the subsequent recovery of approximately ₹3 crore from beneficiaries linked to the fraud.

Concluding his statement, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema reiterated that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Government remains firmly committed to safeguarding public revenue and ensuring a level playing field for honest taxpayers by leveraging advanced data analytics, e-way bill scrutiny, FASTag verification, and intelligence inputs. The Finance Minister reemphasised the Government’s strict zero-tolerance policy towards fake billing and organized tax evasion networks, pledging that the Excise and Taxation Department will continue to protect the interests of genuine taxpayers through a balanced approach of facilitation, rigorous monitoring, and uncompromising enforcement.

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