Maha govt mulls raising non-tax revenue

The cash-strapped Maharashtra government is mulling increasing the share of non-tax revenue as against the tax revenue by adopting methods like land monetisation and transit-oriented development (TOD).

State Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said that tax and advisory services provider KPMG has been entrusted with the task of suggesting ways to increase the state's non-tax revenue.

"Talks are in the initial stages and we have only finished our first round of meeting with the consultants. There are many aspects that need to be considered so that the needs of common man are taken care of," Mungantiwar told PTI here.

The expected revenue by exploiting the non-tax options at the government's disposal is yet to be assessed.
 

"The trend world over is that the non-tax revenue is a part of the GDP (gross domestic product). Countries like Singapore, UAE and some Indian states too have adopted this method," he said.

Mungantiwar said KPMG has proposed ways like sale of unused land, saltpans, increase in rent for properties leased by state government and giving advertisement rights on physical assets to private players.

He added that it has also been suggested to lease out land under flyovers to auto companies for display of cars and facilities.

Under the transit-oriented development (TOD), it has been proposed that land surrounding highways, Metro corridors be leased to private companies for commercial development, such as IT/ITES office spaces, retail outlets, healthcare, hospitality, hotel and service apartments.

"Developing convention centers, theme parks, warehousing, solar parks are also some of the proposals under TOD," the minister said.

Meanwhile, according to figures provided by the state finance department, share of the existing non-tax revenue of Maharashtra is at a dismal 19 per cent, compared to Telangana (37 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (35 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (35 per cent), Rajasthan (32 per cent), Gujarat (29 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (26 per cent).