Advance tax mop-up hints at good show by India Inc

Treasury receipts much better than this time last year.

Indian industry seems to have posted a healthy performance so far this financial year if advance tax payments for the third quarter (October-December) are any indication, with several companies shelling out much more than they had in the corresponding period last year.

According to sources, Grasim Industries has posted a 100 per cent increase in its advance tax payment in the third quarter against the same period last year, at Rs 150 crore. In the year-ago period, the Aditya Birla group company had paid Rs 75 crore. The total advance tax payment of Grasim till Q3 FY10 is Rs 410 crore against Rs 220 crore last year, a rise of 86 per cent.

GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals has paid Rs 85 crore this quarter against Rs 67 crore in the same quarter last year, up 27 per cent. The overall advance tax payment by Glaxo in the three quarters of FY10 is Rs 200 crore against Rs 168 crore same period last year, higher by 19 per cent.

Century Textiles, which paid just Rs 3 crore in the year-ago period, has shelled out Rs 49 crore as advance tax payment this time, taking its overall tax payment in the three quarters of this fiscal to Rs 100 crore against Rs 24 crore, up by 317 per cent.

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services posted 90 per cent growth in its advance tax payment this quarter at Rs 80 crore, against Rs 42 crore it paid in the year-ago period.

The Mahindra group company’s total advance tax payment during the three quarters of FY10 stands at Rs 140 crore, against Rs 106 crore during the same period last year, an increase of 32 per cent. Kumar Mangalam Birla-spearheaded Hindalco has paid 150 per cent more as advance tax in Q3 at Rs 100 crore. In the year-ago period, it had paid only Rs 40 crore.