Cuttack: The civic body has registered a record property tax collection of Rs 30.4 crore, surpassing its target for the just concluded 2017-18 fiscal by Rs 12.40 crore.

The holding tax on land and building collection for 2016-17 was Rs 11 crore. In 2015-16 and 2014-15, the collection was Rs 7 crore and Rs 3 crore, respectively.

Municipal commissioner Bikash Ranjan Mohapatra said the Cuttack Municipal Corporation had collected Rs 30.4 crore holding tax against a target of Rs 18 crore.

Mohapatra gave credit to the officials of the corporation for the achievement and expressed hope that the same spirit of progress would be maintained in recovering holding tax arrears and covering new constructions.

Deputy commissioner Radhakrushna Rout said the holding tax collection had surpassed the target because of unexpected payment of arrears by a government establishment. "SCB Medical College and Hospital cleared arrears of Rs 12 crore, Bhuba-nanda Odisha School of Engineering coughed up Rs 8 crore in arrears ."

The arrears accounted for nearly 60 per cent of the collection targeted for 2017-18 fiscal.

Among the government establishments listed as major defaulters, there was no collection from Ravenshaw University (Rs 2.27 crore), Sishu Bhavan (Rs 1.49 crore) and Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre (Rs 1 crore). They have not cleared the holding tax arrears, but requested for review and reassessment.

They are the main defaulters as they have a more than 80 per cent share of the arrears.