Odisha has seen an increase of around two percent in terms of collection of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) in December 2019, compared to revenue figures for the same period in the preceding year.
According to official data released by the Union Ministry of Finance, Odisha’s GST collections stood at Rs. 2383 crores in December 2019, whereas it was pegged at Rs 2347 crores in the same month last year.
Although the Finance department said that it would conduct a study to ascertain the exact reasons for such a dismal growth rate, officials believe it could be due to poor selling of mineral resources, clamped with a nation-wide demand slowdown.
Some of Odisha’s neighbouring states, however, fared better. West Bengal registered a GST growth of 16%, Chhattisgarh saw a 15% growth and Andhra Pradesh with an 11% rise in collections. Yet, Jharkhand, another predominantly mineral-rich state, fared poorly with collections rising by a meagre 3%.
“The finance department is keeping a close watch on the overall revenue collection of the state. We have emphasized to recover the arrears from various organizations and private companies in terms of water and electricity cess,” said an official.