Facing tax and divestment shortfall, govt puts faith in Vivaad se Vishwas

The scheme is the sixth tax amnesty launched by Modi-govt; none of its predecessors has yielded anything close to Rs 9 trillion, the amount the govt hopes to mop up this time

In her 2020-21 Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had revised downwards the 2019-20 revenue receipts estimates by about Rs 1.12 trillion. Net tax revenue projections for the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, were revised downwards by Rs 1.45 trillion.

While non-tax revenue estimates were revised upwards by around Rs 32,000 crore, divestment estimates were revised from Rs 1.05 trillion to Rs 65,000 crore.

Now, senior government officials confirm that even the revised tax numbers (excluding any amnesty scheme) and divestment estimates for 2019-20 are unlikely to be met. This may not lead to a proportionate cut