State revenue may go down by Rs 850 crore -NT

Published on: February 22, 2013 - 01:59 The state Chief Secretary, Mr Bhaskaran Vijayan, on Thursday said that there is likely to... PANAJI: The state Chief Secretary, Mr Bhaskaran Vijayan, on Thursday said that there is likely to be a shortfall of `850 crore in revenue collection during the ongoing financial year due to suspension of mining activities in Goa. He, however, said that good expenditure management practices adopted by the state government would help it not only to tide over the financial crunch but also carry on with the developmental activities. In an exclusive interview with The Navhind Times, Mr Vijayan, who is also the state finance secretary, said that soon after the Supreme Court ordered a blanket ban on mining activities the state government decided to curtail wasteful expenditure and major construction projects that had been started were renegotiated with the contractors and expenses on them brought down. The Chief Secretary further said the shortfall in revenue collection was a fact known to all and that there was no need to hide it. Besides, the state would also receive lesser grants from the central kitty as the collection of central taxes (income-tax, customs duty and central excise) have also fallen sharply due to the mining ban. The state was receiving between `85 crore to `90 crore from the Centre. The central agencies were also not able to achieve the targets. The top executive officer of the state said ever since the suspension of mining activities, the government has tightened the scrutiny of finances of major projects. “We anticipated the shortfall in revenue collection and planned accordingly as to how to carry on with the ongoing projects as well as implement various schemes announced by the government,” he added. Responding to a query on what has been the effect of the mining ban, Mr Vijayan said that it had definitely affected the state revenue collection, besides having an impact on small businesses as well as on the transport. “The ban on mining has had a multiplier effect on state economy as well as on businesses and flow on funds from Centre,” he stated. He also said that there would be a fall in collection of the value-added tax in view of the ban and that some other departments might not be able to achieve their set targets. He, however, said the collection from excise duty was expected to be good and help the government in tiding over the tight financial position. The Chief Secretary said that VAT collection could be increased to a great extent by proper checking and supervision by the department officials. He said the department was presently short-staffed and there was urgent need to recruit more officials to man various supervisory jobs in the department. “Had the recruitments been carried out annually over the years and had there been proper planning the government would have been able to prevent leakages of income due to it from the business houses,” he said adding that the government has recently approved recruitment of 60-70 officers in the commercial tax department. Mr Vijayan also informed that had the recruitment been done annually then the government might have been able to attract the best talents, who on not finding suitable jobs in the government sector take up jobs elsewhere. http://www.navhindtimes.in/goa-news/state-revenue-may-go-down-rs-850-crore