Telangana revenue collections touch Rs 1 lakh cr

Hyderabad: The Telangana state government saw a spike in revenue collections totalling Rs 1 lakh crore this month-end, owing to a real estate boom collections from excise, and GST. The higher collection will help government fund welfare and development programmes in its own.

As a result of improved revenue collection, the Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS government was able to continue its welfare drives despite the Centre imposing restrictions on loans, which resulted in a loss of nearly Rs 40,000 crore for the state.

The government expected total tax income at Rs 1,08,212 crore in the 2022-23 budget, a 16 per cent increase over the revised estimate for 2021-22. The data obtained from the finance department show that the government realised Rs 81,000 crore in tax revenue collections and Rs 9,000 crore in non-tax revenue collections by November-end, totalling Rs 90,000 crore, and it is expected to surpass Rs 1 lakh crore mark by this month-end.

In non-tax revenue, the state was estimated to generate Rs 25,422 crore, a 13 per cent increase over the revised expectations for 2021-22. Of this, Rs 15,500 crore was estimated to come from the sale of land and property. The real estate boom in Telangana has significantly increased the state's tax revenues.

For 2022-23, the Budget estimated that property registration would yield Rs 15,600 crore. Of this, the state government has realised Rs 7,212 crore in the first half of the fiscal year (April-September), which was 48 per cent higher than the same period last year.

Despite increasing the market value of land twice since July 2021, as well as increasing registration fees and stamp duty, there has been no adverse impact on property registrations. By the end of November, the government had generated Rs 9,407 crore through property registrations.

At the time of formation of Telangana state in 2014, the earnings from property registrations were barely Rs 2,175 crore, with only 9 lakh property documents registered. By 2021-22, this income had increased to Rs 12,372 crore with the registration of 15 lakh documents.

Income from property registrations has surged by 468 per cent in the last eight years. By the end of this month, it is expected that the state's income will have surpassed the budget target of Rs 15,600 crore, the highest ever for the state.

The government also generated Rs 27,287 crore through GST versus a Budget estimate of Rs 42,189 crore, Rs 19,550 crore through sales tax (VAT) versus a budget estimate of Rs 33,000 crore, and Rs 11,525 crore through excise against an estimated Rs 17,500 crore.

With three months until the current fiscal year ends (January-March 2023), and official numbers for December 2022 still to be released, the government expects to exceed budgetary targets on its own tax revenues.

However, the government was disappointed by the Centre's non-tax revenue and grants-in-aid. The state government has estimated to generate Rs 25,421 crore mostly through land sales. Of this, the government could receive Rs 9,138 crore until the end of November.

With the government putting a few land parcels for sale next month, the revenue earnings could grow further. However, the government's estimates for the Centre's grants-in-aid were off the mark, with the Centre providing only Rs 6,623 crore against a Budget estimate of Rs 41,001 crore.

The Centre's restrictions on loans also played spoilsport. While the state government was eligible for Rs 52,167 crore for this fiscal, the Centre approved only Rs 25,924 crore until November 30, and another Rs 3,000 crore loan was approved in December.