Odisha’s mineral industry attracted a revenue rise of 221 per cent to over Rs 18,841 crore in the April-September period of the current fiscal, surpassing the budgetary estimation of receipts from the sector in FY22. In the last fiscal’s duration, the revenue came in at Rs 5,870.74 crore whereas Rs 5,221.91 crore was the generated revenue in the first half of 2019-20 fiscal.
“As against the state’s budget estimation of Rs 13,700 crore as mineral revenue for the 2021-22 fiscal, Odisha has already collected Rs 18,841.54 crore by September 30,” a senior official of the finance department said. By March 31, 2022, the state government expects to have collected about Rs 36,000 crore in income from the mining industry, he added.
S K Mohanty, a mining specialist, noted that the increase in mineral sector collection is connected to the modification of the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act in 2015. He said, “The increase is mostly due to auction of blocks as per the revised norms which allowed the government to grant a mining lease through bidding process only. An upward movement in mineral prices in the international market also contributed to it.”
Due to “unexpected revenue generation from the mineral sector”, Odisha’s non-tax receipt touched Rs 19,922 crore till September 30, whereas the annual target is Rs 20,000 crore for the current fiscal, he said. The state’s own tax revenue collection stood at Rs 17,553.23 crore by September 30, up 30 per cent from the prior-over year.
The state’s own tax income collection was estimated at Rs 37,500 crore in the budget, and the state collected 46.81 percent of the target in the first two quarters of the fiscal year 2021-22. Odisha’s excise income increased by 103 percent in the period under review, with the state collecting over Rs 2,402.84 crore at the end of September.