Punjab’s tax revenue up due to govt efforts: Harpal Singh Cheema

Punjab finance, excise and taxation minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Sunday said concerted government efforts have led to a rise in the state’s tax revenue.

He said the net collection from GST, excise, VAT, CST, and PSDT between April 2024 and February 2025 saw a 12.1% rise as compared to the same period in 2023-24 financial year. The net GST collection saw a 28% growth in February compared to last year, the minister added.

Cheema said this fiscal year has seen a continuation of the previous years’ trend, with a 13.4% growth rate in net GST, 14.4% rise in excise, 5.10% climb in VAT, 17% increase in CST, and 13.65% rise in PSDT up to February when compared to the same period in FY 2023-24.

He said the total net collection from these taxes up to February this fiscal year is ₹38,272.66 crore as compared to ₹34,141.36 crore during the last fiscal year, an increase of ₹4,131.30 crore.

The finance minister said there was ₹506.26 crore increase in GST collections this February compared to last year. While this February, the net GST collection stood at ₹2,313.69 crore, it was ₹1,807.43 crore in February 2024.

He added that the excise revenue also saw a rise – from ₹656 crore last February to ₹686.47 crore this time.

He said the Bhagwant Mann-led state government had adopted a two-pronged approach to improve its own tax revenue. It carried out multiple drives to bring unregistered businesses under GST and enhance compliance among registered taxpayers, besides extending help to honest taxpayers. He said the department also launched the Bill Liyao, Inaam Pao Scheme, which sought the active involvement of school and college students to spread awareness among the younger generation.

Cheema hit out at the previous Akali-BJP and Congress-led state governments for their inability to boost the state’s tax revenue, stating that they lacked effective fiscal management and political will to tighten the noose around tax evaders.