In spite of a slowdown in the growth of both industrial production and merchandise exports, India's direct tax collections rose by as much as 38.61 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal, the finance ministry said on Friday.

The direct tax collections, according to an official statement, rose to Rs.573.73 billion during the period against Rs.413.91 billion in the like quarter of the previous fiscal.Among the various components of direct taxes, corporate taxes rose by 32.65 per cent to Rs.345.66 billion, while personal income tax jumped by 48.84 per cent to Rs.227.82 billion.

"The growth in direct taxes has been maintained despite much larger refund payouts at Rs.115.78 billion, as against Rs.73.02 billion during the corresponding period last fiscal," the statement said.

The growth registered in fringe benefit tax was 38.74 per cent, while securities transaction tax and banking cash transaction tax were up 22.11 per cent and 21.03 per cent, respectively. Among the various regions, the Delhi circle saw the direct tax collections grow by 53.57 per cent, while Mumbai saw an increase of 40.19 per cent.

Nagpur with 74 per cent, Kochi with 68 per cent, Bangalore with 47.26 per cent and and Kolkata with 45.30 per cent also registered significant increases in the mop up.