Backed by steady advance taxes collected from banking, pharma, telecom and IT among other sectors, the government mopped up Rs 3,12,800 crore from direct taxes till yesterday, giving authorities confidence that the new target of Rs 3,45,000 crore will be met in FY'09.

The figure for tax collections reflects an 18.8 per cent growth from direct taxes over Rs 3,12,202 crore mopped up last fiscal, a Central Board of Direct Taxes statement said today.

Corporate advance taxes and corporate tax deducted at source showed a growth of 17.5 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively, it said.

"In the remaining period of this fiscal, CBDT expects to reach the revised estimate target of Rs 3,45,000 crore," it said.

A preliminary analysis of trends in advance tax collections up to fourth quarter of this fiscal shows steady performance in banking, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and fertilisers, IT, telecommunications, insurance and FMCG, it said.

The performance of the public sector, other than oil companies, is also good.