Key government officials expressed strong confidence in meeting the fiscal year’s GST collection targets and projected economic growth for 2024-25. The panel consisted of Ajay Seth, Economic Affairs Secretary (DEA); M Nagaraju, Department of Financial Services (DFS) Secretary; Anurag Agarwal, Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT); and Nitin Agarwal, Chairman of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). The CBIC chairman shared an optimistic outlook on GST collections, highlighting the recent record-breaking figure of ₹1.95 lakh crore in GST revenue, which saw a 12.3% growth rate — marking it as the second-highest collection ever. Agarwal also pointed out that the collection for the Centre had grown at 10.2%, outpacing nominal GDP growth, further reinforcing confidence that the revised GST collection target of ₹10.62 lakh crore would be met. He said, "As far as GST collections are concerned, in this month, the GST collection was very robust. It was 1.95 lakh crore, and at the growth rate of 12.3%. So this is the second-highest ever GST collection in the history of GST so far." He emphasised that with the last quarter typically yielding better results, the government remained confident in achieving both the revised and the budget estimates for GST revenue collection. Turning to the broader economic outlook, Ajay Seth, Economic Affairs Secretary, expressed optimism about the next fiscal year’s growth. Citing India's resilience despite global challenges, Seth noted that the government projected growth could to be at the upper end of the Economic Survey’s suggested range, predicting a 6.8% growth rate for 2024-25. He explained, "Certainly, given that what the external environment today is, presuming that this remains as it is at the moment, we expect the next year, growth to be towards the upper limit of the band which has been suggested in the Economic Survey, which is 6.8%."