Odisha's own revenue up 24% in April-Feb of FY18 to Rs 312.51 billion

Odisha’s own revenue- tax and non-tax, surged 23.74 per cent during April-February of last fiscal to Rs 312.51 billion as against Rs 252.56 billion registered in the comparable period of FY17.

Tax revenue up to February end went up 28 per cent whereas non-tax revenue rose by 8.54 per cent over the previous year.

Higher growth in the state’s own tax revenue was fuelled by receipts of VAT (value added tax) arrears, land revenue state excise as well as the resumption of current VAT from Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) for its 15 million tonne crude oil refinery at Paradip. Initially, the oil major was granted a VAT deferment by the state government for up to 11 years from the date of start of commercial operations of the refinery to make it viable. Later, the terms were renegotiated between the two parties when the state government cribbed about shrinking collections in VAT. IOCL agreed to pay VAT on the condition of an interest-free loan from the state government.

The state’s derived growth of tax revenue stood at 8.12 per cent. Odisha was entitled to a GST (Goods & Services Tax) compensation of Rs 13.26 billion till the end of February.

In the non-tax revenue basket, mining revenue witnessed a spurt of 38.67 per cent to Rs 52.46 billion. Interest revenue also rose sharply by 25 per cent in the period under review.

At the end of February, the state government had spent 68.53 per cent of its Budget estimates including the Supplementary provisions. Though a tad lower than the comparable period of previous year, the total expenditure, in absolute terms went up from Rs 371.43 billion to Rs 412.35 billion.

Programme expenditure under agriculture and allied sectors remained flat at only one per cent rise. Low expenditure was attributed to lesser receipt of central assistance under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) and issues in DBT (direct benefit transfer) for kharif crops. GST roll out also slowed down implementation of some projects.

Issues related to GST and receipt of central transfers in schemes like Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation (AMRUT) also led to slower programme expenditure under infrastructure.

Social sector spending, on the contrary, was the bright spot with a robust growth of 20.16 per cent over the last year. Expenditure on this head was Rs 186.21 billion.