UT falls ₹800 cr short of projected tax revenue

The UT administration saw a shortfall of ₹800 crore in tax revenue against projected income till February 2024, figures released by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) have revealed. This is a 15% shortfall from its budgeted income from its earning departments.

Conversely, the UT administration increased expenditure by more than 10%, from ₹6,087 crore to ₹6678 crore during the financial year 2023-24.

According to CAG report, available with Hindustan Times, the total revenue collected up to February 2024 was ₹5,420 crore.

The budget allocation for 2023-24 was ₹5,919 crore, with ₹4,687 crore designated as tax revenue and ₹1,240 crore as non-tax revenue.

Revenue earned from GST, stamp duty, property, excise, VAT, vehicle tax, sales tax, and other taxes are termed as tax revenue, while revenue from CTU, police revenue, Sampark services, power, and road transport falls under non-tax revenue.

Major losses were incurred in Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection, where the UT received only ₹1,700 crore compared to the anticipated ₹2,300 crore. In Stamp duty, the UT received ₹244 crore against the expected ₹278 crore, and in state excise, only ₹722 crore was received against ₹930 crore.

Revenue expenditure reached 106% by February 2024, while capital expenditure was only ₹350 crore, leaving a significant portion unspent.

Despite repeated attempts, UT finance secretary Vijay Namdeorao Zade remained unavailable for comments.

According to records under the RTI Act, tax revenue was downsized from ₹4,678 crore to ₹4,350 crore, indicating a reduction of ₹350 crore in November last year. Simultaneously, expenditure increased from ₹6,087 crore to ₹6,678 crore, representing a ₹600 crore increase. The budget for infrastructure, initially set at ₹722 crore, was downsized to ₹650 crore, primarily reducing the allocation for buildings and structures by ₹80 crore.

RK Garg, who obtained information under RTI, stated that due to imprudent financial policies, the UT administration is losing revenue across all sectors, including the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB), Municipal Corporation, and CITCO. He expressed concern that a portion of the revenue earned by the UT administration is not going to the Consolidated Dund of India but instead to registered societies. He urged the finance ministry to intervene and correct the financial decisions in the coming years.