Net direct tax collection in the current financial year up to September 15 is higher by 6.7 per cent at Rs 1,27,858 crore as against Rs 1,19,849 crore collected from April 1 to September 15 last year.

The net collection has been impacted by Rs 61,000 crore of refunds. Gross direct tax mop-up during the period has been Rs 1,88,868 crore, a growth of 29.5 per cent over the previous years collection during the period of Rs 1,45,825 crore. September 15 was the due date for payment of the second instalment of advance tax.

Interestingly, smaller centres have been doing better in growth of direct tax collection this year as compared to Mumbai and Delhi. Net direct tax revenue realisation in Chandigarh grew 42.9 per cent to Rs 7,594 crore up to September 15 from Rs 5,315 crore in the same period last year. Similarly, Punes growth was 20.5 per cent at Rs 6,623 crore, over last years collection of Rs 5,499 crore. Bhopals rise was 51.3 per cent, with the realisation of Rs 3,584 crore against Rs 2,369 crore in the period last year. Ahmedabad;s was up 38.2 per cent, to Rs 6,009 crore from Rs 4,348 crore.

Other smaller centres with a similar story include Bhubaneswar, Patna, Lucknow, Kochi and Jaipur.

The biggest contributor to the direct tax kitty, Mumbai, has seen an eight per cent decline in tax realisation with Rs 36,815.5 crore till September 15, as compared to Rs 40,000 crore in the same period last year. Delhi has seen a drop of 16.2 per cent, from Rs 18,427 crore in the 2010 period to Rs 15,444 crore.

The net direct tax mop-up in Chennai and Kolkata up to September 15 was Rs 10,334 crore and Rs 6,079 crore, respectively. While Chennai recorded a 19.9 per cent growth, Kolkatas was only 3.1 per cent.