Firms owe Rs 7446.73 crore to Odisha government: Amat

Industries, mine owners and contractors in Odisha owe Rs 7446.73 crore to the state government through water tax, sales tax, entry tax, excise duty, electricity dues and mineral royalty, State Finance Minister Pradip Kumar Amat today said.
"39 firms owe Rs 1279.77 crore to the Energy department, 109 firms owe Rs 2085.96 crore to the Commercial tax department and 57 firms owe Rs 2121.31 crore to the Water Resources department," Amat informed the Assembly while replying to a question.
Similarly, different agencies owe Rs 1,846 crore to the Mining department, he said.
"Apart from this, different state and central government organisations owe Rs 3255.14 crore towards revenue," Amat said, adding Rs 60 crore was due to the Excise department.

Stating that special measures will be taken for collection of the arrears, Amat said, the state government is taking steps for speedy resolution of cases pending in different courts through mutual settlement.
"Chief Secretary is holding review meetings every month. Focus Area Recovery Monitoring System has been introduced for revenue collection," Amat said.
He said that many cases have a stay order in Supreme Court due to which the state government is not able to collect the pending taxes and bills from certain companies.