Hyderabad:
The 2024-2025 financial year has posed significant challenges for the Congress-led government in fulfilling its promises. To meet the financial demands of the new budget, the State has turned to non-tax revenues and liquor sales.
One of the measures being taken to raise funds includes the sale of expensive government lands and generating additional revenues through mining activities. The government has set a target to earn Rs 25,000 crore from liquor sales alone in the budget proposals.
To achieve this, the government plans to increase liquor prices, open more licensed liquor outlets, and permit new bars in the State. In the previous financial year, the state excise and prohibition department earned Rs 20,300 crore from liquor sales. Now, the aim is to boost revenue by an additional Rs 5,000 crore.
In addition, the government is ready to implement reforms in all revenue-generating sectors. The goal is to achieve Rs 1.38 lakh crore in tax revenues for the 2024-2025 financial year. This includes a target of Rs 68,000 crore from taxes on commodities, which will be a major challenge for all tax-generating departments.
The stamps and registration wing has been tasked with mobilizing more revenues, with a target of Rs 18,000 crore through property registrations and the collection of stamp duty. State-Owned Tax Revenue (SOTR) is the main source of revenue, and the government has already begun streamlining revenue-generating departments to meet these targets.
Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka stated that tax revenue collection was slow in some departments during the first quarter of the current financial year. However, the government remains confident in achieving the desired level of tax revenues in the next three quarters.
