Orissa set to surpass revenue mop up target

BHUBANESWAR: Orissa is all set to surpass its revenue collection target of Rs 13525.99 crore for the current fiscal. The government expects to mop up revenue of at least Rs 15,000 crore, according to finance minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadei.

By October end, the revenue collection was recorded at Rs 7005.60 crore which is 55.54% of the target.

Replying to a query by ruling BJD member Ashok Kumar Panda, the finance minister on Monday said in the Orissa Legislative Assembly that the revenue earning had steadily gone up in the last one decade mainly due to increase in collection of commercial taxes like Value Added Tax (VAT), Central Sales Tax (CST), entry tax, entertainment and luxury tax and professional tax.

Stating that the commercial tax collection target for 2010-11 had been fixed at Rs 7216.33 crore, the minister said no specific target has been fixed for collection of commercial taxes from the large industrial houses.

“Orissa’s economy has increased manifold in the past one decade because of prudent fiscal management. In 1999-2000, the tax revenue collection was just Rs 1141.73 crore which rose to Rs 6376.41 crore in 2009-10. In the last fiscal, the state earned Rs 293 crore from different industrial houses,” the minister informed.

Mr Ghadei told the House that the state government would take stringent action against business houses and industrial establishments who are resorting tax evasion on the pretext of transfer of goods. Besides, the government will ask the industrial houses operating here to open their corporate offices here.