{
  "id": 6506122,
  "title": "Subhash Chandra Garg cherry-picking figures from two different bases: CBIC",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/subhash-chandra-garg-cherry-picking-figures-from-two-different-bases-6506122",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-09T19:25:53.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Economic Times - Top News",
    "slug": "the-economic-times-top-news",
    "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/subhash-chandra-garg-cherry-picking-figures-from-two-different-bases-cbic/articleshow/133988555.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has dismissed former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg's assertion that GST growth figures have been inflated by excluding compensation cess from the calculation. The CBIC argued that Garg is cherry-picking figures from two different tax bases and making misleading comparisons, which is confusing citizens. Garg claimed that including compensation cess in the analysis would bring down the five-month gross GST growth from 14.8% to 4.08% and the net GST growth from 11% to 1.30%. However, the CBIC stated that compensation cess was discontinued on all items except tobacco and related products on February 1, 2026. They emphasized that a meaningful growth rate requires a comparable basis for comparison, and including cess would be comparing apples and oranges, thereby distorting the measure of GST performance.",
  "summary": "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…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Economic Times - Economy",
        "title": "Subhash Chandra Garg cherry-picking figures from two different bases: CBIC",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/subhash-chandra-garg-cherry-picking-figures-from-two-different-bases",
        "published": "2026-09-09T19:25:53.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}