State sees upward curve in income

Kolkata: With better financial management and special drives, an increase in income of the state government has been ensured in the current fiscal compared to that of the previous years.

This comes at a time when the state government is far from touching the maximum limit of taking loans. Loan up to Rs 38,000 crore was permitted for the Bengal government this year.

But till December 31, the state government has

taken a loan of only Rs 26,000 crore. It needs to be mentioned that earlier during the erstwhile Left Front regime, loans were taken to clear previous debts but the present government has not traversed that way and around 30 percent of the loan amount was utilised to carry out various development projects.

Amit Mitra, the state Finance minister, said that proper steps and appropriate financial management has ensured an increase in income for the state government.

According to the sources in the state Finance department, collection due to Excise duty last year was Rs 3,432

crore that has gone up by around 93 percent and till December 31, 2017, it stands at Rs 6,632 crore. The electricity duty has also gone up to Rs 723 crore which was only Rs 302 crore last year. The revenue generation out of entry tax has also risen to Rs 1,517 crore compared to that of Rs 593 crore last year.

At the same time, the revenue generation out of stamp duty and registration fees have gone up 17 percent this time compared to that of the previous years.

This year, the value is Rs 3,869 crore compared to that of Rs 3,293 crore last year.

Similarly, the earning out of motor vehicles tax has gone up to Rs 1,652 crore from Rs 1,352 crore last year.

Moreover, the investment out of the planned budget

has also increased in the 2016-17 fiscal.

In the financial year, it was Rs 49,090 crore and it was Rs 14,615 crore in 2010-11 fiscal.

According to a senior official of the Finance department, it has become possible

despite the burden over the state government of a debt of Rs 40,000 crore.