Slowdown blues: UP to plug gaps, intensify enforcement as tax purse shrinks

Yogi government to auction stone quarries, curb illegal mining to expand kitty

With the economic slowdown hitting Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections across the board, the Uttar Pradesh government is gearing up to plug ‘leakages’ in the state tax mop-up.

UP finance minister Suresh Kumar Khanna has expressed concern over muted tax and non-tax revenues, even as the Yogi Adityanath government has started preparing for the 2022 state elections, which would require liberal budgetary allocations towards social, industrial and infrastructure sectors.

The government has begun exploring new sources of revenue as well. For example, the state has decided to levy cess on sand imports from Madhya Pradesh, while the proposal to start auctioning