HYDERABAD: Higher commercial tax collections have helped the cash-starved state government implement the Dalit Bandhu and crop loan waiver schemes in August, according to officials. This despite a lockdown of varying durations during the period.
Commercial taxes contributed Rs 19,527 crore in the first four months of this fiscal (April-July, 2021-22) of which Rs 6,710 crore was earned in July alone. This allowed the government to mobilise Rs 2,000 crore each for the for long-pending crop loan waiver and Dalit Bandhu this month.
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao will formally launch the Dalit Bandhu (to extend Rs 10 lakh each to 20,000 Dalit families) and crop loan waiver up to Rs 50,000 each to 6 lakh farmers on August 16.
Fuel prices touching Rs 100 per litre generated huge revenues for the government in the form of VAT while major revenue collections came from liquor sales, also in the form of VAT. The government collects 35.2 per cent VAT on petrol and 27 per cent VAT on diesel. The price of petrol in Hyderabad on Saturday was Rs 105.84 per litre while that of diesel was Rs 97.96.
The government has been earning over Rs 1,000 crore every month since April from fuel, against Rs 800 crore- Rs 900 crore per month earlier; in the four-month April-July period it earned Rs 4,068 crore through VAT on fuel, July contributing Rs 1,100 crore.
Liquor sales contributed even more, Rs 4,095 crore in the April-July period.
The other major revenue contributors include SGST and IGST which fetched Rs 4,340 crore and Rs 3,977 crore respectively. The government also received GST compensation of Rs 2,838 crore from the Centre.
The state government raised Rs 13,000 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal (April-June) by auctioning bonds through RBI. For the second quarter (July-September), the RBI has permitted the state government to borrow Rs 1,000 crore each in July and August and Rs 2,000 crore in September.
The government has decided to raise another Rs 2,000 crore on August 10, taking the overall borrowing this fiscal to Rs 16,000 crore. It has proposed to raise Rs 47,500 crore through auction of bonds in Budget 2021-22.
