Amritsar lags behind in per capita income

Income tax mop-up target for city up only 12%

Amritsar has fallen behind other big cities of Punjab in per capita income. Unlike Ludhiana, where the target for income tax collection during the current fiscal has been increased by 44 per cent, the increase for Amritsar has been only 12 per cent.

Experts in the industry say unlike Ludhiana, Amritsar is not a manufacturing hub but a trading centre, and the absence of big companies is the main reason behind the lesser per capita income.

In 2004-05, the target for income tax collection from Ludhiana was Rs 800 crore. This financial year, it is Rs 1,150 crore -- increase of 44 per cent. For Amritsar, the target for 2005-06 is about Rs 500 crore, an increase of only 12 per cent, compared to the revised target of the previous financial year.

Against the target of Rs 610 crore for 2004-05, the income tax collection from Amritsar was about Rs. 450 crore.

"Considering the collection, the target was revised to Rs 450 crore from Rs 610 crore. So for the current fiscal year, the target was increased by 12 per cent, that is to about Rs 500 crores," claims one of the official.

The increase in target in case of Ludhiana clearly indicates that the Manchester of India (as Ludhiana is known) is on the hit list of the finance minister.

Commenting upon Amritsar's potential to mop up income tax, one of the senior Income Tax Department official said, "There is a lack of big corporates here. Moreover, at the time of militancy, the city's industries suffered a big blow, from which they have not recovered. Most of them closed down and the remaining are struggling hard to survive. Moreover, Amritsar is a trading hub, not a manufacturing hub," he further added.

Commenting upon evasion, he said, "Most evasion cases reported to our department were of stamp duty and excise duty. With the boom in the real estate sector, stamp duty evasion is increasing.