Indirect tax collection up by 34 % in June quarter

The indirect tax collection in the state is up by a whopping 34 per cent to Rs 2392 crore in the April-June quarter compared to Rs 1792 crore mopped up during the corresponding period of last year. The growth in indirect tax realization is aided by the increased central excise collection which is up by 56 per cent in the first quarter of the Fy16 against the same period in Fy15.

The central excise collection has surged to Rs 1326 crore in the first three months of the current fiscal from Rs 850 crore realized in April-June,2014.

Mahanadi Coalfields limited, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited led the pack by paying Rs 695 crore. It was followed by steel producer Bhushan Steel limited (Rs 98 crore), Jindal Steel and Power Limited (Rs 53 crore), Bhushan power & steel ltd (Rs 42 crore), among others. "MCL's performance is better due to clearance of arrears and hike in duty on coal from Rs 100 per tonne to Rs 200 per tonne", said a senior official at Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax, Bhubaneswar zone.

The service tax collection stood at Rs 550 crore in April -June, up 22 per cent from Rs 449 crore as on June 2014. However, the custom duty realisation for the period under review is up by a measly five per cent at Rs 517 crore against Rs 493 crore collected in the same period a year ago.

The major service tax payers included Odisha Stevedores Limited (OSL) (Rs 52 crore), Dhamra Port Company Limited (DPCL) (Rs 29 crore), central PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (Rs 18 crore) and Paradip Port Trust (Rs 11 crore). The Bhubaneswar zone that covers the entire state is given a collection target of Rs 10485 crore for the current fiscal. The target includes Rs 6000 crore from central excise, Rs 2150 crore from customs duty and Rs 2335 crore from service tax. Last fiscal, the total central taxes collection in the state stood at Rs 8424 crore against the target of Rs 8270 crore. The official said, with the opening of mines, custom duty and service tax collections are likely to shoot up.

Due to drop in export -import activities the growth in custom duty realization is marginal. However, custom duty collection picks up in winter season as the sea is rough during the monsoon, the official added.