Telangana government has started its new financial year registering good growth thanks to its revenues on liqour and petroleum products.
The excise revenue for May was ₹1,938 crore while the VAT on petrol was ₹817.58 crore. Overall commercial taxes revenue for May was ₹3,381.59 crore registering a growth of 16.4% over that of ₹2,903 crore in the corresponding month in 2017. As the liquor and petrol do not fall under Goods and Services Tax, the VAT from the two sectors goes directly into the State’s kitty. The excise revenue grew at 27% in May over that of last year’s ₹1,524 crore.
Officials said the revenue realised in May was based on sales transactions in April. Generally April, being the first month of new financial year, is a slow month for revenues. Yet the State did well because of department’s continuous efforts to realise revenue.
Under the GST revenue for May, State GST accounted for ₹806 crore, IGST- ₹896 crore. The department is expecting good revenues in June too, they said.
The State however has no inclination to cut the duty on Petrol as suggested by the Central Government.
The Union Government should first cut down excise on petrol as it is quite significant. State has limited resources. From August onwards, the growth is expected to be robust as the compliance under the GST has improved. The technical issues of GST filing have also been mostly sorted out, they said.