Orissa to augment internal revenue

The Orissa government has chalked up a massive drive to augment internal revenue generation. The drive mostly hinges on collection of pending dues and sell off of unused property. The government hopes to mop up thousands of crores through this measure.

Some of the steps mooted include an upward revision of land tax, reintroduction of mineral cess, sale of unused government land and unproductive farms and the issuing of more liquor licences. These were discussed in a high-level meeting chaired by the chief minister recently and endorsed.

According to finance minister Prafulla Ghadei, most of these steps are actually looking within to raise revenue instead of seeking outside assistance.

He said, the government land encroached upon and left unused across the state will be sold through the open tender process starting October. A total of 6,930 hectares of land in 30 districts have been identified for sell-off.

Besides, unproductive state-owned agricultural and horticultural farms will also be auctioned.

A drive will also be launched for collection of all water cess arrears, particularly those pending against the industrial houses. Industrial houses owe the government about Rs 1,100 crore towards water cess.

As the recovery process, in this regard, has been impeded by legal tangles and court stays, the chief minister has assured his intervention to resolve the disputes and ensure speedy collection of dues.

Against an annual target of Rs 55 crore, the government is collecting only around Rs 20 crore from water cess. It has been decided to identify all the irrigated areas in the state and prepare a blue print for a gradual hike in the water tax.

The government is pinning maximum hope on the excise sector to augment its resources. Last year, excise revenue stood at around Rs 300 crore. This year, sources said, excise collection could top Rs 500 crore. Stating that there is scope to increase the excise revenue even to higher levels, officials said, towards this objective the government plans more liquor licences and a phased hike in excise duty and licence fees by suitably amending the excise laws.

In fact, the recent visit of Ghadei to Andhra Pradesh to study the excise system there signals the possibility of some sweeping changes in the state's excise policy in ear future.

Meanwhile, following the vacation of the Supreme Court stay on collection of cess on minor minerals, the cess may be reintroduced soon.

Ghadei said, the money collected under this head will be used for peripheral development of the ministry concerned. Also, royalty on minor minerals not revised for last 14 years may be enhanced now. Similarly, cold storage units which have no private takers will be accorded industrial status so that they can be declared sick and auctioned.

On another front, the finance minister has asked some departments which have defaulted in depositing the revenue collected by them in the state treasury for last several months to remit the money immediately.

Eight departments owe about Rs 1623 crore to the treasury. These departments are finance, home, revenue, commerce and transport, forest and environment, excise, water resources, and industry.

Of these, the finance department alone has defaulted to the tune of Rs 1,200 crore. Besides, sources said, around Rs 700 crore of revenue collected is lying unused due to legal wrangles and stay orders.