The CM asked officials to set up a committee to sell stocks of red sanders in the international market to boost the state’s sources of income. He called for a report on how many tonnes of red sanders were available in the state for sale, and their international market value.
Vijayawada: Underlining the importance of enhancing the state’s revenue, Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu has called for developing an AI-based tax system in the state in the coming two to three months.
In a review meeting he held with senior officials from the income-generating departments at the Secretariat here on Tuesday, Naidu asked the officials to develop a data lake with information from all the departments and ensure that every department has an AI-enabled team and services are provided to the taxpayers through the AI tool.
In efforts to enhance the state's revenue, the chief minister called for a study to find out the possibilities for improving income generation in a big way. Departments like electronics, IT and services, he said, were having better chances to earn more revenue for the government.
The CM observed that despite the fact that families in AP purchased huge quantities of gold, the tax income from this was not proportionate to the sales. Officials must ensure there’s no tax evasion.
The officials informed the CM that a revenue target of Rs 1,34,208 crore had been fixed for AP for 2025-26 from income-generating departments like commercial taxes, excise, stamps and registration, mines and forests. This, they said, was 29 per cent higher than the last fiscal.
They stated that though the income from commercial taxes and forests had come down from April 1 to May 11, a good rise was evident in collections from the stamps and registration department. Referring to the tax share from the Centre to the state, officials said it came down by 26 per cent till May 11, compared to the last fiscal. In 2024-25, some Rs 17,170 crore had been given to the state. So far, only Rs 12,717 crore came from the Centre, the current fiscal.
The CM asked the excise officials to curb illegal sale of liquor that was being brought into AP from other states. “Ensure that the liquor sale is conducted in a transparent manner by real time tracking.” Referring to the rise in income from liquor in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Naidu asked the officials as to why the revenue has come down in AP.
He directed them to find out the reasons and adopt appropriate steps to enhance income from liquor sales. He called upon the departments to try to surpass monthly income targets so as to earn more revenue to the state exchequer.
The CM asked officials to set up a committee to sell stocks of red sanders in the international market to boost the state’s sources of income. He called for a report on how many tonnes of red sanders were available in the state for sale, and their international market value.
Officials informed the CM that the new excise policy helped in a rise in excise income. This fetched Rs 28,842 crore in 2024-25, a hike of 14.84 per cent compared with the last year.
They said AP earned an income of Rs 2,116 crore in April this year and sounded confident the state can earn an income of Rs 33,882 crore by the end of the current year.
Maintaining that the Telangana government earned 75 per cent of its income from Hyderabad, Naidu said AP should explore more opportunities to earn more income. The state must be able to stand on its own by enhancing its sources of income, he said.
