Author: admin_gst

Delhi: Two arrested in multi-crore GST, VAT fraud involving dummy firms, fund layering
GST
Dated:- 16-5-2026
PTI
New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) Two persons including a chartered accountant have been arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in connection with GST and VAT irregularities running into several crores, and involving alleged misuse of business credentials, dummy firms and layering of funds by routing them through multiple bank accounts, an official said on Saturday.

The accused have been identified as Rajeev Kumar Parasar and chartered accountant Atul Gupta, associated with an accountancy firm in Chandni Chowk, EOW said in a statement.

According to the EOW, an FIR in this matter was registered under various charge

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onding genuine business activity.

The probe further revealed that dummy firms and accounts were allegedly operated with the assistance of Atul Gupta and one Prakash Gupta, who has since died.

Investigators also found that GST returns and statutory compliances of the suspected firms were allegedly filed through the firm, police said.

According to investigators, the accused, along with their associates, allegedly misused GST/VAT credentials and opened or operated bank accounts in the names of dummy proprietors to route and layer huge sums through multiple firms and beneficiary accounts.

“The funds were transferred rapidly across accounts or withdrawn in cash to conceal the identities of actual beneficiaries and obscure the fin

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Delhi: Six arrested in Rs 128-crore fake GST invoicing racket busted by EOW
GST
Dated:- 16-5-2026
PTI
New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) The Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has busted an alleged GST fraud cartel operating through shell companies and fake invoicing networks, arresting six individuals involved in swindling Rs 128 crore, an official said on Saturday.

The accused allegedly operated fake firms, generating bogus GST invoices, and availing wrongful Input Tax Credit (ITC) without any actual supply of goods or services, EOW in a statement said.

On May 15, EOW teams made several raids at different locations in Delhi-NCR and arrested Raj Kumar Dixit, Amar Kumar, Vibhash Kumar Mitra, Nitin Verma, Mohammad Waseem, a

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banking transactions, email IDs and other digital evidence, revealed that Dixit and Dilip Kumar, still at large, were the main conspirators behind the racket.

The police said Dixit operated a large-scale fake invoicing syndicate from Daryaganj with his brothers and associates and orchestrated the creation of nearly 250 shell companies using forged and fraudulently obtained documents.

Investigators said the accused used these firms for bogus billing, fake GST transactions, and fraudulent ITC claims while concealing the financial trail through multiple bank accounts, mobile numbers and intermediaries.

Amar Kumar and Vibhash Kumar Mitra facilitated the formation of shell firms and bogus GST activities, they said.

Nitin Verma al

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GSTAT bench allocation order classifies GST appeals by issue type and sets Division Bench first-listing for pending and future matters.
Circulars
GST
GSTAT has classified GST appeals into three categories and mapped them to Single, Division and designated benches. Matters below the specified threshold and not involving a question of law are to be placed before a Single Bench, while pending and future matters before the Principal and State Benches are to be listed first before a Division Bench, which may remit cases lacking a question of law for further directions. Category I covers core classification, valuation, input tax credit, registration and tax-liability disputes; Category II covers registration, composition, recovery, refund, assessment and related matters; Category III covers seizure, confiscation, rectification, penalty, compounding and residual matters. The order also assigns member combinations, hearing days and travel/daily expense entitlements for members posted away from their normal station.
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Release of Supply and Use Tables of 2022-23 and 2023-24: Detailed Product-Industry Insights into the Indian Economy
GST
Dated:- 16-5-2026

The National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), has released the 'Supply and Use Tables (SUTs) of 2022-23 and 2023-24'. This release marks a significant milestone in India's national accounting framework, as it is the first comprehensive set of Supply and Use Tables compiled under the revised base year of 2022-23, which replaced the earlier 2011-12 base year series. The new series of Annual National Accounts Estimates with base year 2022-23 was released on 27th February, 2026, following international best practices and recommendations of the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA). In the new series, the compilation of annual revised estimates has been integrated with Supply and Use Table framework, to eliminate discrepancy between production/income es

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lability of new datasets and adoption of methodology as listed below:

Salient Features of the SUT under 2022-23 Series

(i)  Integration of Annual Estimates with SUT framework: In the new GDP series, the production, income, and expenditure estimates are reconciled within the SUT to ensure internal consistency, in line with SNA recommendations.

(ii)  Alignment with latest classifications: The adoption of updated classifications like NIC 2025, COICOP 2018 improves the alignment of national accounts with international standards and evolving economic structures.

(iii)  Improved Non-Financial Private Corporate (NFPC) Estimates: The estimates NFPC sector have been improved by segregating revenue share, hence GVA for multi activity enterprises using MGT 7 data. Multipliers have been used at disaggregated level to account for the differences in capital across industries and size classes. Comprehensive coverage of Limited Liability Partnership (LLPs) has been

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ASI and ASUSE and several administrative data sources.

(viii)  Elimination of Discrepancy: One of the key strengths of the new series is that complete integration of annual estimation with SUT framework, hence elimination of statistical discrepancies at the final estimation stage.

Purpose of Supply and Use Tables

Supply and Use Tables serve multiple, mutually reinforcing purposes that have made them indispensable to modern national accounting. At their core, SUTs offer a unified analytical framework that simultaneously integrates the three canonical approaches to measuring Gross Domestic Product (GDP)-the production approach, the income approach, and the expenditure approach within a single, internally consistent structure. This integration is critical because it ensures that estimates derived from conceptually different methodologies and data sources converge to a single, harmonised estimate of the size and growth of the economy.

Beyond GDP re

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s are presented as two interlinked matrices: the Supply Table and the Use Table, both organised in a product-by-industry format. The Supply Table records the total supply of each product in the economy, distinguishing between supply from domestic production (disaggregated by the producing industry) and supply from imports. To bridge the gap between producer and consumer valuations, the Supply Table also incorporates adjustments for trade and transport margins and product taxes and subsidies, enabling a transition in valuation from basic prices, at which domestic output is recorded to purchasers' prices, at which goods and services are actually transacted in the market.

Complementing the Supply Table, the Use Table records how each product is utilised across the economy, disaggregating total use into: intermediate consumption by each industry (i.e., products used as inputs in the production process), private final consumption expenditure, government final consumpti

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an economy available in official statistics. The compilation draws on a diverse and comprehensive set of survey and administrative data sources in addition to datasets used in annual accounts compilation: the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) for the organised manufacturing sector; the Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE) for the informal non-agricultural sector; the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) for private final consumption; and a wide range of administrative databases maintained by government departments and regulators.

The compilation methodology follows a structured, four-stage process: (i) Identification of Industries and Products: industries are delineated using the National Industrial Classification (NIC) from ASI data for the manufacturing sector and Compilation Categories (CC) from annual estimates for non-manufacturing sectors; products are classified as per the National Product Classification for Manufacturing Sector (NPCMS) a

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; and Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) tariff rate for import duties.

The Use Table provides, in a single integrated framework, the Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic prices by industry (consistent with the production approach to GDP), the expenditure-side GDP (derived by deducting imports from the sum of all final uses), and the income-side decomposition of value added by industry, covering compensation of employees, gross operating surplus, and mixed income. This three-in-one representation of the economy is the hallmark of the SUT framework and is made possible only through the use of comprehensive, product-level data. Key data sources informing the Use Table include: Cost of Cultivation Studies (CCS) for agricultural inputs; ASI data for manufacturing; Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) for the corporate sector; EXIM data for export of goods; and RBI data for exports of services.

Considering the diverse datasets used to compile SUT, the product balancing is c

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tely 51-52%, underscoring the continued dominance of services in the Indian economy.

• The GVA-to-GVO (Gross Value Added to Gross Value of Output) ratio is a key indicator of the efficiency of value addition within an industry. In 2022-23, the five industries with the highest ratio (range: 0.95 to 0.76) are: Ownership of Dwellings, Forestry and Logging, Agriculture, Crude Petroleum, and Education & Research-industries characterised by relatively low material input requirements. In 2023-24, the top five (range: 0.95 to 0.74) are: Ownership of Dwellings, Agriculture, Forestry and Logging, Public Administration & Defence, and Education & Research.

• Conversely, industries with the lowest GVA-to-GVO ratios are those with high material-input intensity. In 2022-23, the bottom five (range: 0.11 to 0.08) are: Production, Processing and Preservation of Meat, Fish, Fruit, Vegetables, Oils and Fats; Manufacture of Dairy Products; Manufacture of Communication Eq

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onsumption Expenditure (PFCE) in 2022-23 constitute of 57% goods and 43% services, while in 2023-24, goods accounted for 56% and services 44%.

Taken together, the Supply and Use Tables of 2022-23 and 2023-24 provide a uniquely comprehensive and internally consistent account of the Indian economy at the product-industry level. They constitute a foundational resource for economic research, structural analysis, and evidence-based policymaking.

With MoSPI focus on improving the timeliness and granularity of the statistics, the SUT is being published with much reduced time lag than the previous base. Moreover, in terms of granularity the number of products have been increased to 155 from 140 in the previous base SUT.

The 'Supply and Use Tables of 2022-23 and 2023-24' along with a detailed Methodological Note on SUT Compilation are available for free download on the MoSPI official website at:

https://www.mos

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Tariff classification of AAC bricks turns on ceramic character, with heading 6810 preferred over tariff item 69041000.
Case-Laws
GST
AAC bricks/blocks were held not to qualify as ceramic products under Chapter 69 because the manufacturing process and test material showed a sand-lime type article subjected to steam treatment in autoclaves, not goods fired after shaping or heated above the Chapter 69 threshold. The Authority applied HSN Notes and Chapter 69 Notes to conclude that heading 6810 better matched the product description. It also rejected the argument that tariff item 69041000 must prevail as a specific entry, since heading 6810 likewise contains a specific entry for building blocks and bricks. The goods were therefore classified under heading 6810, and classification under tariff item 69041000 was denied.
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Adequate hearing in GST registration cancellation requires fair time to reply, not a hasty order.
Case-Laws
GST
GST registration cancellation requires an adequate opportunity of hearing, not merely a formal chance to respond. The High Court found that the authority fixed a personal hearing before the 30-day reply period had expired and cancelled the registration the next day, which showed undue haste and breached natural justice. The cancellation order was set aside for want of a fair and reasoned decision. The show cause notice was revived, and the competent authority was directed to take the petitioner's reply, grant hearing, and pass a speaking order.
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Alternative statutory remedy bars writ interference where GST tax and penalty were paid without contemporaneous protest and goods were released.
Case-Laws
GST
A HC declined to entertain a writ petition challenging GST detention and release proceedings because the tax and penalty were paid after service of notice in Form GST MOV-07 and the goods were then released, with no contemporaneous protest shown. The Court treated the proceedings as concluded upon payment, held that the penalty order was appealable, and noted that no appeal had been filed within the prescribed period. It found no demonstrated violation of natural justice or jurisdictional error to justify bypassing the statutory appellate remedy, and dismissed the petition as devoid of merit.
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Input tax credit allowed for concrete VCV tower treated as structural support of plant and machinery, not blocked civil construction.
Case-Laws
GST
Input tax credit was allowed on inputs and input services used to construct a concrete VCV tower supporting the VCV line for manufacture of EHV cables. The Authority held that the controlling question under section 17(5)(c) and (d) was whether the tower was foundation or structural support of plant and machinery. As the tower was indispensable for holding, stabilising and supporting the vertically laid manufacturing line and maintaining its integrity and efficiency, it fell within the Explanation to section 17 as plant and machinery. The exclusion for land, building or other civil structures was held not to cover such structural support, so the blocked-credit bar did not apply.
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GST registration restoration follows payment of outstanding dues where cancellation for non-filing would prejudice revenue interests.
Case-Laws
GST
Cancellation of GST registration for continuous non-filing of returns was set aside where the taxpayer was still carrying on taxable works contract activity and continued registration was necessary to ensure discharge of statutory tax liabilities. The Court held that excluding the taxpayer from the GST regime would prejudice revenue, because any dues payable under the GST law would otherwise remain outside the tax system. Following the approach adopted in similar matters, the authorities were directed to intimate the outstanding statutory dues up to the date of cancellation, and upon payment, to revoke the cancellation and restore registration.
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Natural justice in assessment proceedings: matter remitted for fresh merits review after no reply was filed to the show cause notice.
Case-Laws
GST
Assessment was challenged for being confirmed without a reply to the show cause notice, raising breach of natural justice. The Court noted that the impugned order was passed only because no reply had been filed, while the record also showed attachment of the bank account and full recovery of the arrears for the relevant year. The matter was remitted for fresh consideration on merits, with liberty to the petitioner to file a reply with supporting documents and with prior notice before the fresh order. The remand was made conditional: if the reply was not filed within the stipulated time, the impugned assessment order would stand confirmed.
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Advance ruling scope limited: documentary sufficiency for SEZ authorised operations falls outside section 97 jurisdiction.
Case-Laws
GST
Advance ruling jurisdiction under section 97 of the CGST Act does not extend to questions seeking guidance on the sufficiency of documentary evidence for proving that supplies to SEZ units or developers are for authorised operations. The applicant asked whether LOA or eligibility certificate evidence was enough for zero-rated treatment, or whether invoice endorsement by the Specified Officer was mandatory, but the Authority held these issues did not fall within any category listed in section 97(2), such as classification, notification applicability, time or value of supply, input tax credit, tax liability, registration, or whether an activity amounts to supply. It therefore declined to answer all three questions and left the merits of zero-rating and endorsement requirements unexamined.
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Odisha: BJD, Congress demand rollback of fuel price hike
GST
Dated:- 15-5-2026
PTI
Bhubaneswar, May 15 (PTI) The opposition BJD and Congress on Friday demanded an immediate rollback of the fuel price hike, accusing the ruling BJP of adopting a “double standard” on the issue of GST on petrol and diesel.

The women's wing of the Congress staged a demonstration near a fuel station in Bhubaneswar, protesting the increase of Rs 3 per litre in petrol and diesel prices.

BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said the BJP had demanded that petrol and diesel be brought under the GST regime when it was in the opposition in the state, but was now taking a contradictory stand after coming to power.

“This is the time for the BJP to honour it

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essure” it was being compelled to avoid cheaper fuel imports from Russia.

Meanwhile, Mahila Congress activists marched from the party's state headquarters to a fuel station in the Unit-2 area of Bhubaneswar, demanding rollback of the hike in petrol, diesel, commercial LPG and CNG prices.

As part of the protest, women activists brought two-wheelers without petrol to symbolically highlight the burden of rising fuel costs.

District Mahila Congress president Shriya Mohanty claimed the fuel price hike exposed the real nature of the BJP government.

“During the Manmohan Singh government in 2014, diesel was sold at Rs 55 per litre and petrol at Rs 70 per litre,” she claimed. PTI AAM AAM SOM

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News – Press release – P

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Maharashtra cuts VAT on aviation turbine fuel to 7 pc from 18 pc for six months
GST
Dated:- 15-5-2026
PTI
Mumbai, May 15 (PTI) The Maharashtra government reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) to 7 per cent from 18 per cent for a period of six months beginning May 15, an official said.

The decision was notified by the state Finance Department on May 14 under the Maharashtra Value Added Tax Act 2002.

“The concession will remain in force from May 15 to Novem

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Petrol, diesel prices hiked by Rs 3, CNG by Rs 2 after elections as crude costs bite
GST
Dated:- 15-5-2026
PTI
New Delhi, May 15 (PTI) Petrol and diesel prices were raised by Rs 3 per litre on Friday for the first time in more than four years, as surging global crude prices following the Iran war forced state-run fuel retailers to pass on part of their mounting losses after months of holding rates steady through key state elections.

The increase pushed petrol prices in New Delhi to Rs 97.77 per litre from Rs 94.77, while diesel rose to Rs 90.67 from Rs 87.67, according to industry sources.

Rates vary across states due to differences in value-added tax.

Compressed natural gas (CNG) prices were also raised by Rs 2 per kg in cities including Delhi and Mumbai.

CNG in Delhi now costs Rs 79.09 per kg, and in Mumbai it costs Rs 84. However, prices of both natural gas piped into household kitchens for cooking, called piped natural gas, as well as domestic cooking ga

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“Ghalti Modi sarkaar ki, keemat janta chukayegi (The public will pay the price for the Modi government's mistake),” Gandhi said in a post on X. “The Rs 3 shock has already arrived, the rest of the 'vasooli' (recovery) will be done in instalments.” BJP, however, defended the decision, saying the government had shielded consumers from the global oil shock for more than two months and implemented only a “limited and calibrated” increase of 3.2-3.4 per cent.

Prices have remained on freeze since April 2022, but for a one-off reduction by Rs 2 a litre each on petrol and diesel in March 2024, just before Lok Sabha elections. Rates were last hiked in April 2022.

Petrol in Mumbai now costs Rs 106.68 a litre and diesel comes for Rs 93.14 per litre. In Kolkata, petrol now costs Rs 108.74 per litre and diesel Rs 95.13, while in Chennai, prices increased to Rs 103.67 for petrol and Rs 95.25 for diesel.

Industry sources said the price hike is modest relative to the rise in crude pri

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nment's excise duty relief and the latest price increase have narrowed under-recoveries to about Rs 10 per litre on petrol and Rs 13 on diesel, though cumulative losses since the start of the conflict are expected to exceed Rs 1 lakh crore by the end of May.

Friday's move follows excise duty cuts announced in March and comes as the government rolls out measures to curb fuel consumption and contain the country's oil import bill. Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week urged fuel conservation, work-from-home practices and reduced travel as higher energy prices strain India's foreign exchange reserves and threaten to widen the current account deficit for a third straight year.

Some state governments have already instructed departments to limit travel, avoid physical meetings and operate with reduced office staffing.

Private fuel retailers had already increased pump prices. Nayara Energy, the country's largest private fuel retailer, in March, raised petrol prices by Rs 5 per lit

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Andhra govt targets Rs 1.27 lakh crore own revenue for 2026-27
GST
Dated:- 15-5-2026
PTI
Amaravati, May 15 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed all revenue-generating departments to intensify efforts to increase the state's own revenues as the government set a target of Rs 1.2 lakh crore for 2026-27.

During a review meeting at the Secretariat here, the chief minister directed all revenue-generating departments to strengthen collections and adopt technology-driven systems to boost revenues.

“The government has set a target of Rs 1.27 lakh crore in own revenue for 2026-27, and the chief minister directed all revenue-generating departments to intensify efforts to improve collections and plug le

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ressed that district-level economic expansion would accelerate the state's overall revenue growth and help Andhra Pradesh achieve its fiscal targets faster.

He directed departments to improve the speed of doing business, strengthen monitoring systems and eliminate tax evasion and irregularities through innovative mechanisms and technology.

The chief minister also highlighted that resolving land disputes could substantially improve registration revenues.

Emphasising the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Naidu instructed officials to implement AI-driven GST scrutiny systems, strengthen analytics and use advanced technologies to identify revenue leakages and improve compliance without harassing taxpayers.

He also directed offici

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Capacity-based excise evasion allegations justified denial of bail where seized materials and statements showed prima facie concealment.
Case-Laws
GST
Bail was refused in a prosecution alleging clandestine manufacture and duty evasion under a capacity-based excise regime tied to installed packing machines. The Court held that disputed questions about actual production, machine utilisation and exact duty liability could not be decided at the bail stage, and that the applicant's claim that one machine was non-functional did not prima facie displace the statutory scheme absent a prior declaration to the competent Commissioner. Seizure of machines, raw materials and finished goods, together with Section 70 statements, furnished prima facie material of concealment and clandestine manufacture. Given the economic-offence character of the ations, continuing investigation and risk of tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses, the application was dismissed.
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Composite GST assessment orders covering multiple tax periods cannot stand; separate proceedings are required for each assessment year.
Case-Laws
GST
A single show-cause notice or composite assessment order cannot cover more than one tax period under Sections 73 and 74 of the GST Act, 2017. Following its earlier Division Bench view, the HC held that separate proceedings are required for each assessment year once the annual return due date has passed. As the impugned order covered multiple financial years in one proceeding, it was set aside. The Court did not examine the other grounds and left them open. Fresh proceedings may be initiated separately for each assessment year, with exclusion of the intervening period for limitation.
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Composite show-cause notice for multiple tax periods held impermissible; notice and adjudication set aside, with fresh proceedings allowed separately.
Case-Laws
GST
Issuing a composite show-cause notice covering multiple tax periods under the CGST/KGST regime was treated as a jurisdictional defect, following the view that clubbing separate periods in one notice is illegal and impermissible. The impugned notice and the adjudication order founded on it were set aside. Liberty was reserved to the revenue to initiate fresh proceedings through separate show-cause notices for each tax period, and all other contentions were left open.
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Refund withholding fails where no interim restraint exists in the statutory appeal, requiring release of the deposited amount.
Case-Laws
GST
Refund money deposited in Court could not be retained once the Department's challenge had been relegated to the statutory appeal before the Tribunal and no interim restraint was operating there. The High Court noted that the earlier order had not been adjudicated on merits, and in the absence of any Tribunal order preventing release, the deposited amount had to be returned to the petitioner. The release was directed to be made subject to any further orders passed in the Department's pending appeal before the Tribunal.
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Natural justice in limitation scrutiny requires an appellate authority to hear the appellant before dismissing a statutory appeal as time-barred.
Case-Laws
GST
An appellate authority must first examine limitation before considering the merits of a statutory appeal, and where delay is noticed the appellant must be given an opportunity to explain it and, where appropriate, seek condonation. Reliance on an electronic portal flag alone is insufficient if the appellant has not been heard on the issue of delay or the limitation computation may be erroneous. Here, the appeal was dismissed as time-barred after merits were heard and without raising a limitation objection earlier, so the petitioner was denied a fair opportunity. The appellate order was set aside and the matter remanded for fresh consideration on limitation and, if maintainable, on merits.
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Input tax credit allowed for a specialised CCV tower treated as structural support forming part of plant and machinery.
Case-Laws
GST
The AAR held that a specialised steel CCV tower used in manufacturing insulated cables formed part of plant and machinery because the Explanation to section 17(5) includes apparatus, equipment and machinery fixed to earth by foundation or structural support, together with such foundation or support. On the applicant's process layout, the tower was an essential support system providing height, stability, alignment and operational integrity, so it was not a civil structure or immovable property for blocked-credit purposes. Accordingly, input tax credit on inputs and input services used to set up the tower was admissible and was not barred by section 17(5)(c) or section 17(5)(d).
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GST appellate remedy preserved after writ challenge declined, with delay condonation, statutory pre-deposit, and bank lien issue left open.
Case-Laws
GST
The High Court declined to examine the merits of the challenge to the GST show cause notice and consequential order, and directed the petitioner to pursue the appellate remedy instead. It permitted filing before the appellate authority within two weeks with a delay condonation application and statutory pre-deposit, and left open the request for lifting the bank lien, to be considered by the appellate authority in accordance with law.
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Speaking order requirement invalidated GST registration cancellation passed without reasons or proper application of mind.
Case-Laws
GST
Cancellation of GST registration was invalid because the proper officer failed to record reasons in the prescribed Form GST REG-19 and passed a non-speaking order without application of mind. The Court held that cancellation entails adverse civil consequences, so a speaking order is mandatory even if the taxpayer did not reply to the show cause notice or appear. Recording reasons was treated as part of fair procedure and a safeguard against arbitrary exercise of power. The cancellation order was set aside, and the matter was restored to the show cause notice stage with liberty to the taxpayer to reply or regularise the default, after which the officer must proceed afresh in accordance with law.
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Mandatory GST penalty under Section 122(1) upheld, with proportionality arguments rejected and statutory appeals preserved.
Case-Laws
GST
Section 122(1) of the GST enactments was held to prescribe a mandatory penalty once the provision is attracted, because the phrase “whichever is higher” leaves no discretion to impose a lesser amount on proportionality grounds. The High Court rejected reliance on proportionality decisions from labour and excise jurisprudence, and noted that the petitioners were prima facie liable on the material in the assessment orders. It also found no procedural irregularity or lack of reasons in the impugned orders, and held that the statutory appellate remedy must be pursued instead of writ relief. The writ petitions were dismissed, but the petitioners were allowed to file appeals with the 10% pre-deposit requirement dispensed with.
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The Era of Informal Influence Is Over: India's Creator Economy Is Entering Its Institutional Age
GST
Dated:- 14-5-2026
PTI
Kofluence's Decoding Influence 2026 maps how AI, regulation, creator commerce, and performance accountability are reshaping the business of influence in India. Bengaluru, India, 14th May 2026 Kofluence, India's leading Ad-Tech influencer marketing platform, today released Decoding Influence: Annual Research Report 2026. Drawing on data from over 2 million creators, 1,000+ surveys, and in-depth interviews with 50+ industry professionals, the flagship study documents a structural shift in India's creator economy. The landscape has transitioned entirely from an experimental phase into a formalised industry defined by infrastructure, standardised processes, and regulatory governance.

India's influencer marketing sector is valued at ?3,000-3,500 Cr in 2025, sustaining a 22% CAGR from that base, and is projected to reach ?4,500-5,000 Cr by 2027, driven b

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les. They are the structural filters that will separate the durable from the disposable.” Ritesh Ujjwal, Co-Founder, Kofluence Key Insights from the Annual Research Report 2026 1. The Formalisation of the Creator Class India's creator base spans 4.0M-4.4M+ active professionals, with Instagram serving as the primary infrastructure for 3.3-3.7 million creators. The defining metric of 2026 is business incorporation: 15.2% of creators are now registered as a business entity or GST individual. This establishes a new entry barrier for institutional brand partnerships, making the GST-registered creator the new baseline for enterprise engagement. Within this expanding base, 61.1% of all surveyed creators operate in the Nano tier (1K-10K followers), providing highly targeted community engagement. Specifically, 15.2% of India's active creators are now registered as a business entity or GST individual, representing the new minimum threshold for institutional brand partnerships.

2. Regiona

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k influencer marketing spend to formal revenue targets, with a further 46.4% applying performance accountability on a campaign-by-campaign basis. 62% of brand professionals confirm that long-term creator partnerships deliver superior ROI compared to one-off campaigns. Platform investment remains heavily concentrated: 93.1% of brands prioritise Instagram as their primary influencer channel, with e-commerce leading sectoral spend at 23%, followed by FMCG at 19%. Specifically, 93.1% of brands prioritise Instagram as their primary influencer marketing channel, making it the non-negotiable platform for any scaled creator programme in India.

4. AI as Operational Infrastructure Technology has standardised content production and campaign management at scale. Among creators, 59% regularly or sometimes use AI tools for content ideation, creative design, trend analysis, and scheduling. Only 17.3% of creators never use AI tools a figure that continues to decline as technology becomes embedde

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e website link.

About Kofluence Kofluence is India's leading Ad-Tech influencer marketing platform, powered by a full-stack AI platform that enables both brands and content creators to capitalise on the value of their social influence. A verified Meta and Google partner, Kofluence operates a hybrid Managed Services and SaaS model with performance-linked creator programmes including CPA and ROAS-based campaign structures across BFSI, D2C, FMCG, and short-form video verticals.

The platform has powered campaigns for 600+ clients across 30 sectors, including Domino's, HUL, ITC, Netflix, L'Oréal, Coca-Cola, Swiggy, Meesho, Flipkart, Bajaj Finserv, and TVS. With a network of over 750,000+ influencers spanning 30+ languages and a reach of more than 7.5 billion, Kofluence brings unmatched scale and diversity to India's creator economy. Recognised in Forbes' Select 200 Companies With Global Business Potential, Kofluence is ISO-certified, verified by Meta and Google, and a proud memb

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