As revenue sources dry up, govt looks to water dept to meet shortfall

Directs department to stick to annual target, collect pending bills

The Odisha government has directed the state water resources department to ensure collection of targeted Rs 450 crore this fiscal as its revenue sources show weaker trend due to shutdown of major iron ore mines and slide in central financial assistance.

“Water resources department should take required steps to ensure collection of at least Rs 450 crore as per annual target. Strategy of the department for realisation of the target are to be framed within a fortnight,” said Santosh K Pattanayak, special secretary of the department in a letter to chief engineer, water services.

Revenue of water resources department includes charges received from water supply for drinking water and irrigation purpose and from sale of water for generation of hydro power. Industrial water rate is the biggest contributor to the total revenue collection of the department.

The government is banking upon water and excise department to meet its revenue target, which, as per a projection of the finance department, could be lower by Rs 2,300 crore to Rs 25,580 crore in the year ending March 2015.

It has already asked the department to take steps for realisations of Rs 50 crore industrial water rate unpaid by Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) and Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL).

Apart from sticking to current year targets, the department has been instructed to take steps for collection of pending industrial water bills which have been unpaid for last 14 years. The total unpaid dues pending against 129 companies, including public sector undertakings (PSUs), amount to Rs 6,169.73 crore.

Some of the companies have moved the high court and obtained stay order on the payment bills demanded by the department.

“Take immediate necessary action in the matter to recover water tax and also take necessary steps to lift stay order brought by few companies from the High Court on water tax imposed by the State,” said Pattanayak in a separate communication to the water resources department officials.

Data supplied by the water resources department last year to a RTI query shows 13 companies, including Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd , Bhushan Ltd, Paradeep Phosphates Ltd (PPL), Jayshree Chemicals and Shyam DRI have obtained stay orders between 2000 and 2006 on payment of water taxes.

In the current financial year, the state government is anticipating 10 per cent drop in revenue collection to the tune of Rs 6,800 crore due to lower mining revenue, slower tax collection and lesser than expected flow of funds to the state from the Union government.