BHUBANESWAR | Dec 07, 2015: An increase of around 500% in collection of revenue from stamp duty and registration fees helped the state government achieve a 26% growth in overall revenue collection from the mining industry in the state till October-end.
Sources in the state finance department said the state government generated 1670.57 crore from stamp duty and registration fees against 264.62 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year, which is a growth of 531.31%. The collection from stamp duty and registration fees till October 2013 was pegged at around 338.86 crore.
The jump in collection of revenue from stamp duty and registration fees is due to renewal of more mines according to the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act, 2015. The state government has renewed the lease period of around 54 mines, according to the provision of the new mining law, said an officer in the finance department.
The new MMDR Act, which came into force on March 27, has provisions for extension of the lease period of all captive mines till March 31, 2030, and non-captive mines till March 31, 2020. Before going for mining activities, the lessees signed a lease deed with the state government by paying the required registration fees and stamp duty, which helped generate more revenue, the officer added.
The new mining law, which expedited the mining activities in the state also helped fetch mining royalty worth 2944.03 per cent by October-end, an increase of around 25% over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. "If the trend continues, we will easily achieve the target, which is 6,626.17 crore for the current fiscal," he added.
A positive trend on collection of revenue from both the sectors helped the state register a 21.68% growth in overall revenue collection.
There has been, however, a negative trend in collection of revenues from entry tax (ET). The state government collected 882.92 crore from ET by October as compared to 890.77 crore by October, 2014, sources said.
In other sectors, the state government recorded growth of 55% from land revenue, 28.16% from excise duty, 13.65% from motor vehicle tax, 8.73% from sales tax, 25.01% from electricity duty and 1.36% from professional tax, the source added.
In 2015-16, the state government targets to collect revenue of around 32,000 crore.
(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)