The Union government has authorised the release of an additional installment of tax devolution amounting to Rs 72,961.21 crore to strengthen the hands of state governments, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday.
The step has been taken in view of the forthcoming festivities and the New Year to strengthen the hands of state governments for financing various social welfare measures and infrastructure development schemes.
This installment is in addition to the tax devolution installment due to states on 10 January 2024 and the installment of Rs 72,961.21 crore already released on 11 December 2023, the ministry said in a statement.
The highest of the amount has been received by the Uttar Pradesh at Rs 13,088.51 crore followed by Bihar at Rs 7338.44 crore, West Bengal at Rs 5488.88 crore among others.
Last time, the Centre had released tax devolution of Rs 72,961.21 crore to state governments for November, three days ahead of schedule citing festival season.
This will enable the state governments to make in-time releases and add to the festivities and celebrations among the people, the ministry had said.
Currently, 41 per cent of taxes collected by the Centre is devolved in 14 installments among states during a fiscal year.
It is to be noted that in the eight months of the current fiscal, the net direct tax collection has touched 58.34 per cent of Budget Estimates (BE) at Rs 10.64 lakh crore.
The net tax collection for April-November stood at Rs 10.64 lakh crore, which is 23.4 per cent higher than the corresponding period of last year, the Ministry of Finance had informed.
Gross collections grew 17.7 per cent to Rs 12.67 lakh crore in the April-November period while the refunds amounting to Rs 2.03 lakh crore was issued for the said period.
Special initiative was taken for cases where refunds had failed initially and subsequently issued to validated bank accounts, the ministry said.