Government banks on non-tax revenue bump to meet fiscal target

The government will have to have a fiscal surplus of Rs 1.2 trillion in March to contain fiscal deficit at Rs 5.9 trillion

As the government stares down the proverbial barrel for 2017-18 - having exceeded the revised fiscal deficit target by more than Rs 1 trillion – it needs to see a big bump in non-tax revenues in the month of March to meet its targets.

The non-tax revenues, including dividend from public sector enterprises, will to a large extent determine whether the government will be able to rein in its fiscal deficit at a revised 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) without much expenditure squeeze.

Even as the Centre’s fiscal deficit overshot the Revised Estimates (RE) by 20.3 per