Claims 26 per cent revenue realisation so far

Painting a rosy picture of the State finances, Finance Minister E Rajendar on Wednesday said that revenues were impressive and there was no need to panic.

Addressing the media, he said that the revenue realisation from State’s own sources was 26 per cent, just two per cent short of the target so far in the present financial year. He said that revenue from Commercial taxes was Rs 2,429 crores in April this year as against Rs 2,265 crore realised in the same month last year and Rs 2,650 crore in June 2015 as against Rs 2,450 crore in June,  2014.  He said that the growth in revenue was impressive due to the revolutionary steps taken by the government.

The minister said that even the revenue from Stamps and Registrations department was good as the clouds over the State have been cleared and the confidence levels of people was high.  He said that except for land regularisation scheme, all the other means have yielded good results.

Speaking about the expenditure, the minister said that the reports about cost cutting measures were baseless. Since the Income Tax department has taken away Rs 1,200 crore, there was a little break in spending. The minister said that Rs 4,200 crore was spent in April, Rs 7,367 crore in May, Rs 6,703 crore in June and Rs 8,166 crore till July 22, 2015.

Rajendar said that the spending was in the order of about 30 to 32 per cent in the first quarter of the financial year. The minister said industrialists were showing keen interest in the State. Loans were availed as per the norms of the Reserve Bank of India.

Finance Department special chief secretary Pradip Chandra said that the revenue to the government from its own sources was Rs 3,070 crore in April this year, Rs 3056 crore in May, Rs 3,395 crores in June and the expected revenue in July is Rs 3,900 crore. He informed that the revenue growth was from 10 per cent to 30 per cent.

He said that RBI had lent the amount to Telangana at a lesser interest rate than others on par with Madhya Pradesh. The special chief secretary informed the government got Rs 1,100 crore through ways and means facility and was appreciated by the Centre for not using the facility in rampant manner.