Bhubaneswar, Sept. 3: The Odisha government finds itself on a sticky wicket as revenue arrears to the tune of nearly Rs 5,702 crore remain locked up in vacourt cases.

Of this, revenue of Rs 1,025.37 crore has been locked up in various legal disputes in the Supreme Court, Rs 3,691.03 crore in Orissa High Court and Rs 986.02 crore in various tribunals and courts across Odisha.

Of this arrear, Rs 509.91 crore comes under Odisha sales tax, Rs 332.74 crore under value added tax, Rs 2,160.37 crore under central sales tax, Rs 217.94 crore under entry tax, Rs 52.29 crore under forest development tax, Rs 1,493.23 crore as industrial water rate and Rs 935.71 crore as electricity dues.

Many industrial houses have been reluctant to clear electricity dues as they contend that they are being forced to pay power tariff at a high rate.

They also allege that the bills given to them are inflated and don’t match the actual meter reading.

Odisha finance minister Prasanna Acharya said: “Because of the court cases, the state is unable to collect huge revenue in terms of taxes and non-taxes. We have asked our officials to take steps in settling the cases.”

Odisha is also planning to appoint a special counsel to take steps at the courts to expedite hearing of cases. “We have also requested the advocate general to take steps in this regard,” he said.