The government today said it has collected over Rs 4.93 lakh crore as per provisional estimates from direct taxes during the 2011-12 fiscal, as against a revised estimate of Rs 5 lakh crore.

The net direct tax collection (provisionally) stood at Rs 4,93,912 crore, Minister of State for Finance SS Palanimanickam said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

In Budget for 2011-12 fiscal, the government had set a direct tax collection target of Rs 5.32 lakh crore.

Responding to a question on refunds, Palanimanickam said the refunds increased by 29.25% to Rs 97,158 crore in 2011-12, from Rs 75,169 crore in 2010-11.

He further said the government has initiated slew of measures of ensure that the tax collection targets are met. These include monitoring of advance tax collection, recovery of tax arrears, increased tax deduction at source, among others.

In a separate reply, Palanimanickam said the direct and indirect tax collection target for 2012-13 fiscal stands at Rs 5.70 lakh crore and Rs 5.05 lakh crore respectively.