Bhubaneswar: Prior to the budget announcement, the Steel and Mines department, which failed to hit the target in revenue collection for last three years, has become a cause of concern of the State government.
Similar situation is also prevailed this year as the department collected Rs 869 crore by the end of December, 2015 against the target of Rs 6626 crore. Collection of remaining Rs 2755 seems impossible within next two months.
Decreasing steel price in international market and delayed auction of mines have posed main reason behind the low revenue collection.
“The price of minerals like steel and iron has decreased marginally. The price, which was Rs 4000 last year, has come down to Rs 14,00 to Rs 18,00 this year. Accordingly, royalty collection has also slashed. We are trying to cover up the deficit”, Steel and Mines minister Prafulla Mallik.
On the other hand the government has retained trust on Excise department which may come to its rescue. The revenue collection of the Excise department has increased by 68 per cent by the end of December than the last year. The department, which has a target of 2500 crore, has expected to reach the point in next two month.
“The budget cannot be prepared with only Rs 2500 crore. Government is fetching funds from various sources. I think our department could reach near the target of Rs 2500 crore”, Excise minister Damodar Rout said.
But, experts feared an inclement impact of less revenue collection on the budget. “Twenty five per cent of total tax comes from petroleum sector. But, this year the State is losing Rs 2000 crore which may raise severe funds crunch. The government may borrow loans to recover it”, senior journalist Dilip Satpathy said.