Odisha's revenue collection increases 23 percent

The Odisha government posted a 23.25 percent growth in its tax revenue in the first eight months of the current 2015-16 fiscal, collecting Rs.13,483.79 crore as against Rs.10,932.92 crore in the like period of the previous year.

The growth was mainly on account of stamp duty and registration fees, land revenue, electricity duty and state excise, an official said on Monday.

Collections from non-tax sources were Rs.4,371 crore, a 10 percent growth over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.

The state's overall Plan expenditure in the first eight months (April-November) was Rs.2,000.32 crore, i.e. 26 percent higher than the expenditure recorded in the corresponding period of last fiscal, said an official of the finance department.

Infrastructure spending was Rs.5,163 crore, i.e. 52 percent of the Budget estimates, it was revealed at a review meeting chaired by chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi on Saturday.

The expenditure on infrastructure and social sector has exceeded 8 percent and 7 percent respectively over the corresponding period of last financial year. Expenditure in agriculture and allied sectors has been to the tune of Rs.3,859 crore, a growth of 2.35 percent over the previous year.

Several mining licenses have been renewed in the last couple of months, resulting in Rs.1,670.57 crore earning in stamp duty and registration fees collections, a growth of 531.31 percent over the previous year's figure of Rs.264.62 crore, sources said.