Finance minister Prasanna Acharya

Bhubaneswar, May 13: The tax and non-tax revenue collection in Odisha has recorded a growth of 15.37 per cent over the previous fiscal year, despite a slowdown in mining activities over the past three years in the state.

Buoyed by the success in tax collection, the Odisha government has set an ambitious target to collect Rs 26,350 crore in 2013-14.

“Tax collection would have been more if all the mines were operational in Sundergarh and Keonjhar. Mining activities have almost come to a standstill since the Justice M.B. Shah Commission had started its inquiry in 2011,” said a senior official.

Finance minister Prasanna Acharya said: “We are confident that we will meet the target. We have chalked out a plan and our officials are working on it.”

Odisha aims to collect Rs 18,350 crore as direct tax revenue and Rs 8,000 crore as non-tax revenue.

The Odisha government collects direct tax revenue from land revenue, stamps and registration, excise, sales tax, vehicle tax, entry tax and electricity duties.

“As the stamp duty has almost doubled over the past three years, it has helped the government to increase its revenue base,” an official of the finance department said.

Non-tax revenue includes mining royalty, forest and wildlife, water rate, irrigation and industrial water rate, water supply and sanitation, interests and dividend and other departmental receipts.

The projected tax revenue for the current fiscal is around Rs 3,500 crore more as compared to last year’s revenue collection of Rs 22,942 crore. Of the total revenue collected last year, Rs 15,150 crore is direct tax revenue and Rs 7,792 crore non-tax revenue, an official said.

Revenue has gone up both in the tax and non-tax revenue sectors. Revenue collection was Rs 9,509.67 crore in 2007-08, which increased to Rs 22,942.24 crore in 2012-13.