Tax revenue of the State improved significantly in February with the government registering ₹98,199.33 crore against the projected ₹1.06 lakh crore for the entire financial year.
The government has achieved 91.86 per cent of the budget estimates by February-end. Revenue through Stamps and Registration was almost on target with ₹12,364 crore at the end of the financial year slightly missing the targeted ₹12,500 crore for the fiscal.
The steep hike in revenue receipts through Stamps and Registration department assumes significance as it continued in spite of revision of market values and registration charges during the year. This also indicates the growing trend of investments in the real estate sector mostly focussed in and around the GHMC limits.
Sales tax
Revenue through sales tax too reached ₹24,483 crore against the budget estimates of ₹26,500 crore registering 92.39 per cent of actuals. Collection of State Excise duties reached ₹15,647 crore against the projected ₹17,000 crore achieving 92.04 per cent of the target while the State’s share of Union taxes surpassed the projected ₹8,721 crore to reach ₹11,794 crore by the end of February marking 135.24 per cent in terms of actuals.
Borrowings and other liabilities were pegged at ₹43,230 crore against the estimated ₹45,559 crore while the non-tax revenue and grants in aid continued to be at the lower end. The non-tax revenue at the end of February was ₹6,080 crore against the estimated ₹30,557 crore while the grants in aid and contributions were at ₹7,701 crore against the projected ₹38,669 crore.
On the expenditure side, salaries/wages accounted for ₹27,483 crore against the estimated ₹26,081 crore (105.37 per cent actuals). There was significant increase in expenditure on account of pensions – ₹12,390 crore against the estimated ₹10,831 crore – and the increase is said to be because of the implementation of the revised pay scales for all categories of employees as well as pensioners.
The State’s fiscal deficit at the end of February was pegged at ₹43,186.59 crore against the budget estimates of ₹45,509 crore while the revenue deficit was ₹10,450 crore against the projected revenue surplus of ₹6,743 crore, according to the statistics available with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
