Debasish Acharya
Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Jan 22: Indirect tax collection from the state has shown a growth of 40 per cent by the end of December quarter on the back of higher payout from state-run firms like HAL and IOCL among others, a top official of Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax (CEC&ST) of Bhubaneswar Zone said.
“Indirect tax collection in the state has seen a growth of 40 per cent during April-December period of current fiscal year,” a top official of the department told Orissa POST. The total indirect tax collection as on December 2015 stood at Rs 8,216 crore against Rs 5,868 crore reported in the same period last fiscal.
“The growth in the indirect collection was due to higher payout from the state owned aerospace and defense company- Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and oil major, Indian Oil among others,” the official said adding that rising number of contracts bagged by HAL has pushed up its service tax payout by 21 per cent. As per the official, service tax collection stood at Rs 1,619 crore against Rs 1,343 crore reported in the same period last fiscal.
“The department had seen tepid growth in service tax segment during last fiscal with a total collection of about Rs 1,869 crore against a set target of Rs 1,900 crore. The stunted growth was attributed to closure of mines in various parts of the state,” he said. The official, however, added that the department is hopeful of meeting this fiscal target.
On customs duty, the official said it has seen 44 per cent rise in collection at Rs 1,950 crore by the end of December quarter. “Excise duty collection in the third quarter has also seen a sound growth with 46 per cent rise to Rs 4,646 crore during this period,” the official said. On overall growth of indirect tax collection this fiscal, he said resumption of mining operations is pushing collection rate. Operationlisation of Indian Oil’s refinery unit at Paradeep, duty hike on coal are also driving growth in this segment. “We have set a collection target of Rs 10,485 crore during this fiscal and hopeful of achieving it,” he said.
On revival of Gopalpur port and its impact on tax collection, the official said as on date there is very minimal impact, which may see good growth in the near future.
