Advance tax payout by the top ten taxpayers for the June 15 instalment, grew 16 per cent, indicating robust profit expectations for these companies for the entire financial year.

ONGC emerged the No 1 advance taxpayer for the period with a payout of Rs 1,093 crore (Rs 880 crore), dislodging State Bank of India. The country's largest commercial bank was ranked second with Rs 869 crore (Rs 1,068 crore).

Reliance Industries moved up four notches to take the No 3 spot, paying Rs 653 crore (Rs 314 crore), dislodging LIC which moved to the fourth slot.

There are two new entrants ITC and Punjab National Bank in the top ten league for this period. ICICI Bank and GAIL, which figured in the list last year, have both slipped.

For the June 15 instalment, the top ten advance tax payers cumulatively paid Rs 5,131 crore, reflecting a 16 per cent increase over the Rs 4,409 crore paid for the same period last year.

Private sector presence in number terms remained the same. There were two companies (ITC and Reliance Industries) in the top ten list. Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank were the two private sector companies that figured in the list for the June 15 instalment in 2009.