Hyderabad, July 12 (Representative) Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Wednesday evening ordered the officials concerned to achieve the annual target set by all revenue-generating departments in the state.Reddy conducted a review meeting with top officials of the revenue-generating state Excise, Commercial Taxes, Mining, Stamps Registrations and Transport Departments at the Secretariat here, along with Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka and Ministers P Srinivasa Reddy and Jupalli Krishna Rao. During the meeting, the CM asked officials to take the necessary measures to increase revenue in the current financial year (2024-2025) compared to the last year. The Chief Minister warned that all departments should take strict measures to avoid tax evasion. Each department should draw out a monthly target plan in accordance with the annual target and evaluate the progress achieved in the tax collection regularly. The CM also asked the officials to maintain transparency and integrity in tax collection and revenue generation. The revenue-generating departments have also been given enough freedom to introduce reforms to generate more revenue and also reorganise the entire department if necessary, the CM said during the more than 4-hour discussion on various issues in the meeting.
The CM observed that revenue generation till June in this financial year is not satisfactory when compared to the annual revenue target. The CM instructed the officials to prepare monthly revenue targets and strive hard to achieve the annual revenue goals mentioned in the Vote on Account. Reddy said that henceforth he will conduct a review on the achievement of fixed monthly revenue targets in the first week of every month.Apart from the monthly review, Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka will also hold a meeting every Friday and review the progress in the achievement of targets by the concerned departments.Reddy emphasised the increase in GST collection, which is considered one of the main revenue resources for the state.State Commercial Taxes wing officials have been asked to conduct field visits for proper auditing to increase GST revenue. The CM said that the officials should adopt transparency and maintain strict measures in the GST tax collections without leaving anyone.In view of the decrease of revenue from the VAT on the sale of petrol and Diesel , the CM asked the officials to look into the possibility of revising the tax on Aviation fuel to compensate for the revenue loss.The CM inquired about the reasons for not increasing revenues despite the huge sale of liquor during the elections.
The CM asserted that illicit liquor and non-duty-paid liquor sales should be curbed to increase revenue from liquor sales. The CM ordered the officials to keep a strict vigil on the diversion of liquor from the distilleries by using advanced technology. The Chief Minister suggested that measures should be taken to increase the revenue which is being generated through property registrations and stamp duty, as the rates of land and immovable property have already increased in the state.In order to increase the income from sand and mineral resources, the Chief Minister directed the concerned authorities to stop illegal transportation and leakages. The CM also asked officials to conduct a study to determine whether collecting tax on electric vehicles after the limited period of the tax subsidy affected the sale of the vehicles.Government Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari, Finance Special Chief Secretary Ramakrishna Rao, along with the officials of the concerned departments, participated in this meeting.