Gross revenue collection has doubled to Rs 6.7 trillion in the last five years, the government said on
Monday.

"This is the only government department which earns while the rest spend," Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who till recently was the finance minister, said at the foundation laying ceremony of the revenue department's headquarters in the heart of Lutyen's Delhi.

The new building, Rajasva Bhawan, will house the offices of the Central Board of Direct Taxes and the Central Board of Excise and Customs apart from other important wings and directorates of the department.

Currently, the various boards and directorates of the revenue department are scattered across the capital.

After laying the foundation stone, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is holding the finance portfolio in the absence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh now recovering after a heart surgery, said the building would provide a single window facility for all tax payers.

Rajasva Bhawan, being developed on Kasturba Gandhi Marg by the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), would have a built-up area of about 46,000 square metres.