A house under construction in Bhagalpur. Picture by Amit Kumar

Bhagalpur, March 25: If prosperity can be measured by income tax collection, the Silk City has done unexpectedly well in the current fiscal.

Six days are left for this fiscal to end and Bhagalpur has already achieved its income tax target for 2010-11.

The number of tax payers under the Bhagalpur income tax range, comprising Bhagalpur, Banka and Katihar, has doubled from last fiscal’s 2,000 payers.

According to sources in the department, the target of Bhagalpur range was fixed at Rs 3.7 crore but the department has received Rs 5.2 crore, earning an additional Rs 1.5 crore with six days to spare.

A source said: “Six days are left in this fiscal. We hope that before March 31 the amount will reach nearly Rs 6.5 crore, earning an additional income of Rs 2.8 crore.”

The source also said among the 4,000 tax payers registered with the income tax department more than 60 per cent are from the business community. Financial experts said the increase in the number of tax payers indicate that Bhagalpur is flourishing.

Experts also point out that the increase in tax payers, a majority of whom are businessmen, indicate at the rise in trading activities in the city.

Dipak Kumar, a real estate dealer here, said: “Besides trading, there has been a boom in real estate dealings and construction of housing properties.” Because of spurt in the construction scene, numbers of businessmen dealing with construction materials like bricks, cement, stone chips, iron and others, have gone up.

Sunil Agarwala, a cloth merchant, said: “Trading of food grains, cloth, electronic goods, along with other items, has increased in the local markets.”

Prasant Bhushan, income tax commissioner, Bhagalpur range, welcomed the city’s increase in prosperity.

“Business activities have witnessed a rise mainly because the purchasing capacity of consumers has increased. Construction of housing properties have also seen a considerable growth, indicating the prosperity of the people.”

Chandan Kumar a businessman who deals with silk products said: “The sudden rise in silk trade gives us (the traders) a hope that the business will revive once again. The fact that we are paying more tax is encouraging because it is a result of healthy trade. People from all around are demanding raw materials and there has been a considerable rise in exports too. There is a change in the air.”