Telangana beats own record; tax revenue triples in 9 years

The Telangana government had achieved this feat by taking various measures, including improving the tax administration and expanding the tax base

Hyderabad: Telangana is emerging as an unstoppable economic powerhouse. The State-Owned Tax Revenue (SOTR) has grown to Rs 1,26,617 crore in 2022-23, registering a growth of 16.62 per cent over the previous year. The SOTR has nearly tripled in the last nine years from Rs 37,391 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 1,26,617 crore in 2022-23.

Thanks to the BJP-led union government’s apartheid towards Telangana which turns out to be a major setback, the overall revenue receipts of Telangana were Rs 1.92,097 crore, registering a shortfall of Rs 53,159 crore as against budget estimates of Rs 2,45,256 crore in 2022-23.

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In its report submitted to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) recently, the State reported surpassing its budget estimates of Rs 1,26,606 in tax revenue collections for 2022-23. This is second consecutive year that Telangana surpassed its budget estimates. In 2021-22, the SOTR was Rs 1,09,991 crore as against the budget estimate of Rs 1,06,900 crore. The State government had achieved this feat by taking various measures, including improving the tax administration and expanding the tax base.

Telangana has been consistently outperforming itself in SOTR for the last nine years and trippled its tax revenue within nine years, recording nearly 33 per cent growth year-on-year. Though the entire nation was paralysed for two years due to the Covid crisis, the SOTR has remained promising. Even during 2020-21 when tax revenue of many States in the country did not exceed 50 per cent of their budget estimates, Telangana realised 78 per cent of its budget estimates i.e. Rs 79,339 crore against budget estimate of Rs 1,02,026 crore.

Further, the State registered revenue surplus of Rs 6,508 crore against the estimated Rs 3,754 crore at the end of March and fiscal deficit was pegged at Rs 32,119 crore. The primary deficit at the end of March was Rs 11,166 crore much lower than Rs 33,255 crore projected in the budget estimates.

The biggest dent was due to the Centre denying borrowings and other liabilities categorised under capital receipts, with Telangana receiving Rs 32,747 crore against Rs 52,227 crore projected in the budget estimates. The Grants-in-Aid and contributions from the union Budget were just Rs 13,179.21 crore against the budget estimates at Rs 41,001.73 crore. Similarly, the non-tax revenue too was lower at Rs 19,553.62 crore against Rs 25,421 crore projected in the budget estimates.

Revenue through Goods and Services tax at the end of March was pegged at Rs 41,888 crore against Rs 42,189 crore projected for the year. Similarly, revenue from Stamps and Registration was Rs 14,228 crore, falling short than the budget projection of Rs 15,600 crore. Telangana earned Rs 18,470 crore through State excise duties which was higher than Rs 17,500 crore projected in the budget. Revenue from sales tax was Rs 29,604 crore, nearly 10 per cent less than the targeted Rs 33,000 crore.

However, the State’s share of union Taxes was higher at Rs 13,994 crore, against the projected Rs 12,407 crore and revenue through other taxes and duties at Rs 8,430 crore, around 142 per cent of the projected Rs 5,902 crore.