Punjab Finance, Planning, Excise, and Taxation Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday said that the state has witnessed a net 16.52 percent growth rate in revenue from Goods and Services Tax (GST) and a 10.4 percent increase in revenue from Excise up to December in the current fiscal year (FY) as compared to FY 2022-23.

Disclosing this in a press release issued here, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that the net GST collection up to December in FY 2023-24 was Rs. 15523.74 crore against the net GST collection of Rs. 13322.59 crore during the same period in the FY 2022-23. Thus, the net increase in GST collection amounts to Rs. 2201.15 crore, he added.

Adding further, the Finance Minister said that the revenue from Excise up to December in FY 2022-23 was Rs. 6050.7 crore, whereas, for the current fiscal year it rose to Rs. 6679.84 crore registering an increase of Rs. 629.14 crore.

Revealing the figures of state’s own tax revenue, Harpal Singh Cheema said that Punjab achieved a growth rate of 14.15 percent in total revenue from VAT, CST, GST, PSDT, and Excise up to December during the current fiscal year as compared to FY 2022-23. He said that revenue from VAT, CST, and PSDT reflects a growth rate of 12 percent, 26.8 percent, and 5.24 percent respectively. He said that the state’s total own tax revenue during the last 9 months was Rs 27931. 16 crore against Rs 24468.14 crore collected during the same period in the year 2022.

Reiterating the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann led Punjab Governtment’s commitment to push state into a higher orbit of growth and prosperity, the Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that the state had witnessed impressive growth in its own tax revenue during FY 2022-23 due to the major reforms adopted by the state government, and in the FY 2023-24 many more reforms are being adopted to maintain the growth chart while extending every help to the honest taxpayers and tightening the noose around the tax evaders and illegal liquor trade