Haryana shows signs of economic recovery in 1st quarter

Bhartesh Singh Thakur
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 30

Revenue receipts in the first quarter (April to June) of the financial year 2021-22 indicate signs of economic revival, as the state posted the highest collections in the last four years.

This happened despite the second wave of Covid gripping the country.

The provisional figures of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) show that the state earned Rs 16,047 crore as revenue receipts in the first quarter as compared with Rs 8,301 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, when the collections were marred by the Covid-induced lockdown.

In the first quarter of 2019-20, revenue receipts were Rs 15,899 crore and, in 2018-19, it was Rs 15,178 crore.

“The economic activity has started attaining the pre-Covid levels. Taxes have also been enhanced. So these two factors are responsible for higher revenue. Also, the credit-deposit ratio is higher in Haryana than Punjab,” said Prof Satish Verma, who is the Reserve Bank of India chair professor at the Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh.

In 2021-22, the first quarter Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections were Rs 4,919 crore, which is also the highest in the past four years. Only Rs 2,245 crore was collected in the corresponding period last fiscal. This time’s collection has increased by 119 per cent.

Sources in the Finance Department say that this time, the state received GST compensation from the Centre for the entire year.

This year, revenue from the sale and purchase of properties, till June, at Rs 1,554 crore is more than double from the previous year.

The revenue from sales tax, which includes earnings from the sale of petrol and diesel, has been fixed at Rs 11,000 crore for the entire 2021-22. And till June, more than 25 per cent has been earned as Rs 2,755 crore has been collected so far.

However, there is a dip in earnings from the state’s share of union taxes. In the first quarter, only Rs 856 crore has been earned while Rs 1,139 crore was earned in the corresponding period last year.

Under non-tax revenue — collections from mining, transport, and external development charges (EDC) — Rs 1,127 crore has been earned in the first quarter. In the corresponding period last year, it was a mere Rs 435 crore. However, in the first quarter of 2019-20, non-tax revenue was Rs 1,327 crore.

The state earned Rs 1,957 crore in excise duty till June, while in the corresponding period last fiscal, it was Rs 1,369 crore. There has been a jump of 43 per cent.

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