Garg, who has been at the centre of the recent controversy over the government's GDP growth estimates, had questioned the Centre's claim of 14.8% growth in gross GST collections in August and 11% growth in the first five months. In a social-media post, with an attached article, he argued that the headline numbers present an overly favourable picture of revenue performance because compensation cess collected in the year-earlier period was excluded from the comparison.

Former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg critiques India's GDP estimates, highlighting data inconsistencies and concerns over transparency and political interference.

The CBIC stated that comparing GST revenue figures using different tax bases is misleading. Growth calculations must be made on a like-for-like basis for meaningful analysis. …