Bhubaneswar: At a time when the country is reeling under what appears to be an economic slowdown, Odisha’s revenue collection showed an upward trend by the end of September, marking a growth rate of around 8.10 per cent over the corresponding period of last fiscal.
This was known from all Secretaries’ meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy on Tuesday, wherein Finance Secretary Ashok Kumar Meena outlined the financial updates of the State for discussions.
Reviewing the fiscal performances of various departments up to September, the Chief Secretary directed the departments to expedite budget utilisation and make up the backlog which was caused because of the model code of conduct for general elections.
The departments were also asked to make a realistic reassessment of the financial requirements for the current year keeping in view the Supplementary Budget 2019-20.
The Finance Secretary said the Supplementary Budget would be presented around mid-November as per the deadline communicated earlier.
Meena further advised that the anticipated savings, if any, should be surrendered by the departments for reallocations.
The review showed that the revenue generation from non-tax sources grew by 10.46 percent by end of September in comparison to the corresponding period of the last year with a total collection of Rs 6,186.48 crore. The revenue generation from mining royalty and water cess increased around 14 per cent and 46 per cent respectively.
The total collection from mining royalty was around Rs 5,207 crore against last year’s collection of Rs 4,580 crore by September end. The revenue generation from own tax sources also increased by 7.16 per cent with a total collection of around Rs 15,055 crore against last year’s Rs 14,049 crore.
Keeping in tune with the revenue generation, the budget utilisation by end of September grew by 9.15 per cent over last fiscal by end of September. The total expenditure by September was around Rs 46,819 crore.
Meanwhile, the Chief Secretary directed the departments to rearrange their spending patterns so as to scale up utilization level to at least 60 per cent of the budgeted amount by the end of December.