Share of Odisha from central tax collection has been on a slippery path this fiscal, said finance minister Pradeep Amat in the assembly today.
In April to July 2014 period, the state received Rs 1327.18 crore every month, which later reduced to Rs 1300.84 crore during August to January period. In February this year, the receipt declined sharply to 1236.08 crore, he informed the assembly.
“In the first week of February, the state received Rs 618.04 crore, much less than previous month’s receipt. Then we had made a correspondence with the Finance Ministry, and they gave us another Rs 618.04 crore in the second phase. Hence, we received Rs 1236.08 crore in two tranches in February,” said Amat in a written reply to a query on action taken by the government after fall in share tax revenue.
State governments receive their share from central taxes based on budgetary estimates in the first week of every month between April to February, while in March they receive the rest of the amount in three tranches.
As on March 18, Odisha has received Rs 15,570.79 crore including two tranches of March. The state will get another Rs 610.42 crore in the final installment of the current fiscal, the minister said.
In the vote on account for 2014-15, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had sanctioned Rs 18,580.59 crore as shared tax for Odisha, which was scaled down to Rs 18,317.10 crore in the full budget prepared by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, after it came to power in May 2014. However, in the revised estimates, share of Odisha was further squeezed to Rs 16,181.21 crore.
The short fall in shared tax has affected budgetary provision of the state government this fiscal.
In 2014-15, the annual plan size of the state was estimated at Rs 40,810 crore including PSU resources for Rs 2000 crore as per original budget estimates. But in the revised estimates, it was reduced to Rs 35,000 crore since the state government anticipated shortfall of Rs 3723.31 crore in central assistance and Rs 2000 crore less collection of own revenue.
