Though Telangana Finance Minister Etela Rajender put a brave face in the state assembly claiming that the demonetisation of high value currency notes had very little impact on the financial position of the State, the officials’ sources are contradicting him.
Moreover, the Finance Minister also said that the state witnessed an increase in revenues by almost 13 per cent. But officials are estimating the loss in revenues would be to the extent of Rs 8,000 by March-end. Official sources confirming that the Finance Department has already submitted a report to the government in this regard.
According to this report, half of the revenue loss would be from the Commercial Taxes Department alone. The only source to be intact is said to be the sale of petroleum products, which contributed nearly 20 to 25 per cent of the total revenue. However, other trades mainly garments, FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), gold sales and other commercial activities have come down by 50 per cent.
Whereas the Finance Minister claimed in the Assembly that compared to previous year, there was an increase by 22% in Sales Tax, 35% in Taxes on Vehicles while the Stamps and Registration Department recorded an increase by 56% in its revenues. If the trend continues, the minister said that the government would ensure 100% spending of amounts allocated in the budget for financial year 2016-17.
The Minister had targeted Rs 43,115 crore tax collections from the department this year. In the first two quarters of 2016-17 financial year, the State achieved nearly 45 per cent of the target and prepared plans to fulfil the targets during the remaining two quarters.
According to official sources, the land registrations and vehicle sales declined to an all-time low in the two months. The government targeted to generate Rs 4,200 crore from registrations and Rs 2,500 crore through Transport Department. Now, each department would incur at least Rs 1,000 crore revenue loss in five months’ time. The Excise Department which expected to earn Rs 14,000 crore revenue through liquor sales suffered a setback.
