Tadepalli, August 5: Former Finance Minister and YSR Congress Party senior leader Buggana Rajendranath strongly criticised the TDP-led coalition’s claims on GST revenue growth in July 2025, stating that the numbers are being misrepresented to paint a false picture of economic success.
He said the so-called growth is only due to the poor performance of the government itself in July 2024 and not because of any meaningful economic improvement.
In a statement released, Buggana pointed out that the year-on-year growth of 14% in GST revenues for July 2025 is misleading. “This increase is not the result of improved policies or better economic activity, but rather a result of the extremely low GST collections in July 2024,” he said. He attributed the poor collections last year to the TDP-led alliance government’s weak economic policies and lack of proper direction.
He said that when you compare the net GST revenues of Andhra Pradesh in July 2023 and July 2025, the growth is only 6.3% over a two-year period. Net GST collections were Rs. 2,755 crore in July 2023 and Rs. 2,930 crore in July 2025. “That means the actual year-on-year growth in 2025 is just 3.13%. Similarly, gross GST revenue growth is only 2.88%. These are very low figures,” he added.
Buggana said it is disappointing to see Mr. Nara Lokesh celebrating such a minor improvement and projecting it as a major economic success. “He claims Andhra Pradesh recorded the fastest GST growth rate among South Indian states. But he conveniently forgets that GST growth was negative in July 2024. So, this year’s rise looks high only because last year’s numbers were too low. This is called the base effect,” Buggana explained.
He reminded that GST collections are a clear indicator of consumption and investment in the state. If the state economy was truly growing at the rate claimed by Mr. Lokesh, the GST revenues would reflect that. “But the current growth shows the reality is far different from the claims. The state needs serious efforts to bring the economy back on track, not media shows and fake celebrations,” he said.
Buggana called the government’s behaviour irresponsible and said it is unfortunate that the TDP alliance is trying to gain political mileage from a growth that has no real strength. “Instead of accepting its failures and correcting them, the government is using the low numbers of the past to make current performance look better,” he said.
He urged the government to focus on real strategies that support investment, job creation, and overall economic revival rather than relying on shallow publicity.
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