Repeated emphasis on a large number of recoveries, which were expected anyway, but without the necessary caveats, may be encouraging millions to lower their guard. Every effort to relieve the citizen fatigue over COVID 19 should be made, but the goal is to preserve health until a medical breakthrough is made. In these pandemic hit times, when most economic news has been grim, the latest GST data give cause for some hope, albeit cautious, especially to policy makers overseeing beleaguered public finances. Gross revenue collections from GST scaled a six month high of the first time in the current fiscal year when the tax receipts exceeded the year earlier period figure. Clearly, with lockdown restrictions having been significantly eased, economic activity appears to have regained some momentum as people strive to reclaim a semblance of normality and businesses rush to restock inventory ahead of the peak consumption season in festival marked October and November. Other high frequency indicators, including automobile wholesales and the survey based Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for manufacturing, both for September, The IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI reading was at its highest in more than eight years as accelerated increases in new orders and production buoyed the sector outlook. GST revenue from the import of goods was also marginally higher than in the year earlier period, signalling that inward shipments of commodities used as inputs in manufacturing had inched up. Merchandise trade data from the Commerce Ministry show Indian purchases of metal ores and pharma products in September posted increases of almost contraction as overall economic momentum slowed considerably. The key concern now would be to gauge the durability of the trend in GST collections, especially considering that over the first six months of the current fiscal, the cumulative revenue receipts are 25% lower year on year. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman annual Budget for 2020 21, announced in February before the pandemic and lockdowns pushed the economy into a record contraction, had projected a 12.8% growth in GST receipts, a goal that now seems surely impossible to realise. India for Octobe Repeated emphasis on a large number of recoveries, which were expected anyway, but without the necessary caveats, may be encouraging millions to lower their guard. Every effort to relieve the citizen fatigue over COVID 19 should be made, but the goal is to preserve health until a medical breakthrough is made. In these pandemic hit times, when most economic news has been grim, the latest GST data give cause for some hope, albeit cautious, especially to policy makers overseeing beleaguered public finances. Gross revenue collections from GST scaled a six month high of the first time in the current fiscal year when the tax receipts exceeded the year earlier period figure. Clearly, with lockdown restrictions having been significantly eased, economic activity appears to have regained some momentum as people strive to reclaim a semblance of normality and businesses rush to restock inventory ahead of the peak consumption season in festival marked October and November. Other high frequency indicators, including automobile wholesales and the survey based Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for manufacturing, both for September, The IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI reading was at its highest in more than eight years as accelerated increases in new orders and production buoyed the sector outlook. GST revenue from the import of goods was also marginally higher than in the year earlier period, signalling that inward shipments of commodities used as inputs in manufacturing had inched up. Merchandise trade data from the Commerce Ministry show Indian purchases of metal ores and pharma products in September posted increases of almost contraction as overall economic momentum slowed considerably. The key concern now would be to gauge the durability of the trend in GST collections, especially cons