The countrys top 10 advance tax payers league has now undergone a substantial change in the relative position of companies in the pecking order for the period up to December 15 as compared to the period up to mid-September, when the second instalment of advance taxes was due.

However, the latest data compiled by the Revenue Department show that there was no change in the composition of the top 10 advance taxpayers league between the September 15 and December 15 instalments.

Official sources said that the top 10 advance taxpayers have paid Rs 10,405.9 crore for the December 15 instalment. This represented a 38 per cent increase over the advance tax of Rs 7,547.20 crore paid by the 10 companies for the same instalment last year.

While ONGC and State Bank of India (SBI) continued to hold the number one and second positions respectively, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has now entered into the top 3 club, from the fourth position held earlier, by displacing Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), which has now moved down to the fifth position in the league. Reliance Industries is now the fourth largest advance taxpayer in the country, the official data showed.

ONGC has paid advance tax of Rs 6,213 crore up to December 15 (Rs 5,192 crore up to December 15 ,2006).

The countrys largest commercial bank, SBI, has paid advance tax of Rs 2,645 crore (Rs 2,084 crore). SAIL has forked out advance tax of Rs 2,480 crore upto December 15 (Rs 2,774 crore).

IndianOil Corporation (IOC) has moved up three notches to the sixth position in the list, thanks to big jump in its advance tax payments this year.

For the period upto December 15, 2007, IOC has paid advance tax of Rs 1,831.7 crore (Rs 266.8 crore).