LUCKNOW: Despite the pandemic-induced lockdown, Uttar Pradesh recorded an upward swing in the revenue collection for the third month on the trot. Finance minister Suresh Khanna told reporters on Thursday that the state's revenue collection in November this year was Rs 345 cr more than the recovery in November 2019.
The state's collection was Rs 1,800 crore more in October and Rs 600 crore more in September than the recovery in the same months previous year. "There is no doubt that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s efforts for speedily reviving the economy even during the toughest period are bearing fruits now," Khanna said. Additional chief secretary, finance, Sanjiv Mittal, was also present at the press conference.
“It is true that the state is still behind the projected target for this financial year, but it is also a true that despite challenges on economic front, we did not allow developmental projects to suffer and all state staff -- serving and retired -- are getting their salaries and pensions on time, while some states have suffered on this front,” claimed Khanna .
The total revenue in November this year was Rs 10,903 crore while in November 2019, it was Rs 10,557.9 crore. Thus, there is an increase of Rs 345 crore, Khanna said.
The biggest gain this year was in excise revenue -- from Rs 2274 last year to Rs 2465 crore this year, the minister told reporters, adding, though the GST collection saw a dip, from 5936 crore to Rs 5860 crore this year.
‘Festive season & high excise sale drove economy’
Khanna said that the festival season and excise sale definitely played a key role in better recovery in October 2020 by over Rs 1,800 crore.
“In the stamp and registration segment also, the state has posted a hike of 207 crore -–up from Rs 1421 crore to Rs Rs 1628 crore. This is a strong conclusion that the people of the state have adequate money with them for purchasing new property. This is a good sign for being on road to recovery on the economic front after the three months of setbacks from April to June during a strict lock down period amid the outbreak of coronavirus in the state and outside,"the minister said.
Because of the severe setback in the first quarter, though, the state was still behind the target revenue of Rs 13825 crore set for November 2020, the minister said. Similarly, the cumulative target and recovery are Rs 1,07,385 crore and Rs 67,476 crore respectively, he added.