Powered by the increase in value added tax (VAT) and other taxes, Uttarakhand mopped up Rs 4,065.03 crore in tax collections, registering a robust growth of 30.8 per cent during April-November this year.

The new figures available with the finance department revealed the impressive growth in taxes was largely due to the increase of 0.5 per cent to 1 per cent in VAT from April 1 this year. The total collections of VAT has now reached Rs 1,812.72 crore against last years Rs 1,382.38 crore ended November with a growth of 31.1 per cent.

The real estate sector also showed buoyancy with the government collecting

Rs 281 crore in stamp registration against Rs 257 crore during last year with an annual increase of 9.4 per cent.

Revenues in excise also showed good trend with the state collecting Rs 479.30 crore with a growth of 6.3 per cent during the period. Last year, the excise revenues were Rs 450.50 crore.

The sales of automobiles in Uttarakhand also registered a growth of 17.3 per cent with the collections touching Rs 141.59 crore this financial year against last years collections of Rs 120.68 crore.

We have been holding periodic meetings so that the state can earn higher revenue. Already, committees had been set up under the Chief Secretary as well as on the Vidhan Sabha level in this regard, a government official said.

However, collections in non-taxes could not get desired results despite the efforts launched by chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. The forest sector showed a negative growth of 13.8 per cent in the state where tax collections came down to Rs 14 crore from the last years collections of Rs 16 crore.

Similarly, power is another sector which has been causing headaches with its negative growth rate. This was mainly due to the purchases of electricity at higher rates during the lean season as the hydropower sector took a beating during the last two years.