Driven by year-end stock clearance, e-way bill generation surged to an all-time high of 14.06 crore in March, according to data released by the GST Network on Friday. This figure surpasses the previous record of 13.84 crore set in December 2025.
This could have some impact on GST collection in April, data for which will be out on May 01. However, actual collection depends on higher consumption as GST is destination-based consumption. Also, services and movement of goods beyond a certain threshold are not included in e-way bill generation.
An e-way bill is an electronic document generated on a portal, evidencing the movement of goods. It also indicates whether tax has been paid for the moving goods. As per Rule 138 of the CGST Rules, 2017, every registered person involved in the movement of goods (which may not necessarily be on account of supply) of consignment value of more than ₹50,000 (can be lower for intra-state movement) is required to generate an e-way bill.
“A major development driving the recent surge is the rollout of Form ENR-03. Introduced in February 2025 and maturing by March 2026, this feature allows Unregistered Persons (URPs) to generate e-way bills without a GSTIN,” said Vivek Jalan, Partner with Tax Connect. Further, he said that by providing a simplified path for small traders (via ENR-03) while simultaneously enforcing stricter validation for registered ones, the government has captured a much larger share of actual goods movement in its data, in FY 25-26, which has peaked in March 2026.
Commenting on the number, Saurabh Agarwal, Tax Partner at EY India said that high e-way bill volumes in March 2026 reflects strong on-ground economic activity, driven by year-end dispatches, inventory rationalisation, and robust trading momentum. The data clearly indicates that consumption-led demand remains resilient across sectors, inspite of geopolitical tensions across the globe.
The government’s continued focus on technology through e-invoicing, real-time GSTN integration, and tighter compliance frameworks is deepening formalisation and expanding the reporting base. “While some manufacturing sentiment indicators have moderated, the divergence is largely technical, with e-way bills capturing actual goods movement across the broader economy,” he said.
Some experts felt panic demand also was a reason of higher generation of e-way bill. According to Krishan Arora, Partner with Grant Thornton Bharat, till February, the continued surge in e-way bill signified the sustained business activity in India coupled with increased momentum in supply chain activity. “While some of the surge continued as spill over in March, with escalated war related global disruptions and economic uncertainties, the increased e-way bill activity in March could be attributable to contingency and panic demands, larger inventorization of raw material and finished goods across the country,” he said.
Published on April 10, 2026