India Inc has paid 10-20 % more tax for the October-December period, according to numbers available with the Income Tax department , as on December 15 the last day for paying the third advance tax installment.

Most sectors, except cement, have improved their performance compared with the year-ago period with many banks paying substantially higher tax. The figures signal a growth in margins for manufacturing , engineering, and pharma firms.

The countrys largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has paid 100 crore more with a tax outgo of 1,895 crore, while the largest company Reliance Industries (RIL) paid 1,191 crore against 894 crore a year ago.

LIC Housing Finance , which is caught in the loan-for-bribe scandal, paid 14 crore more at 70 crore. Tata Steel has paid 1,000 crore as advance tax against 650 crore in the year-ago period. Software major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) paid 230 crore, which is 60 crore more than what it paid in the corresponding period last year.

Bajaj Auto paid 370 crore against 310 crore. While earnings and tax outgo for most local banks rose, some foreign banks paid a lower advance tax. Standard Chartered Bank, the largest foreign bank in India, paid 161 crore less tax at 325 crore. Citibank too paid 30 crore less at 200 crore. But HSBC paid 23 crore more at 198 crore.

HDFC Banks advance tax outgo shot up to 700 crore from 400 crore a year ago. Other Indian banks too paid higher amounts Central Bank contributed 179 crore against 138 crore a year ago, Dena Bank paid 350 crore compared with 271 crore last year.

ICICI Bank contributed 450 crore, a rise from 301 crore, Bank of Baroda paid Rs 435 crore compared with 355 crore, IDBI paid 209 crore up from 74 crore in the year-ago period and Indusind Bank contributed 110 crore to the taxman against 68 crore a year ago. For Kotak Mahindra Bank , the outgo was flat at 87 crore.

Pharma firm GlaxoSmthkline paid 5 crore more at 90 crore. Glenmark Generics paid 20 crore, twice the amount it paid last December. Pfizer paid 25 crore, the same amount it paid last year, while Glenmark Pharma , that had not paid tax last December, paid 15 crore.

Advance tax from Ambuja Cement and ACC plunged, with the forme paying 80 crore lower at 60 crore and the latter paying 70 crore lower at 40 crore.

FMCG company Parle Products advance tax payments shot up to 3 crore from 50 lakh a year ago. The corresponding numbers for some of the companies are: Mahindra and Mahindra 236 crore ( 195 crore), Mangalore Refinery 245 crore ( 68 crore), Grasim Industries 135 crore ( 281 crore), Tata Chemicals 58 crore ( 40 crore), Tata Power 58 crore ( 81 crore), Aditya Birla Nuvo 36 crore (nil), Videocon Industries 35 crore ( 30crore), Tata Motors 220 crore ( 100 crore), Ultratech 165 crore ( 90 crore), and Larsen & Toubro 270 crore ( 270 crore).