Gross tax collections up 18 per cent at Rs1,94,231 crore
New Delhi: The Centre's gross tax collection grew by over 18 per cent to Rs1,94,231 crore in the first nine months of this fiscal mainly due to growth in direct tax mop-ups.

The gross tax collection improved from Rs1,64,170 crore during April-December 2003-04 with corporation tax, income tax and customs duties posting double-digit growth during the nine-month period, according to the figures collated by Controller General of Accounts.

Government has estimated a net tax mop up of Rs2,33,906 crore for this fiscal.

Corporation tax receipts grew by a handsome 30 per cent to Rs49,697 crore till December 2004 from Rs38,216 crore in December 2003 in tune with the improved performance of India Inc. Income Tax collection was up by 21 per cent at Rs31,873 crore in the first nine months of 2004-05.

On the indirect tax front, customs collections rose by about 13.5 per cent to Rs41,265 crore during the period under review. Excise duty mop up was Rs61,837 crore till December this fiscal, which is 9.5 per cent higher than Rs56,499 crore in the same period last fiscal.
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Domestic savings rise to 28.1 per cent of GDP
New Delhi: The country's gross domestic savings rose by two percentage points to 28.1 per cent of GDP at Rs7,76,420 crore in 2003-04 compared to Rs6,42,298 crore in the previous fiscal.

"All sectors of the economy contributed to the rise in gross domestic savings estimated at Rs7,76,420 crore, against Rs6,42,298 crore. With this, the domestic savings now constitute 28.1 per cent of GDP at market prices, " an official release said here.
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Fiscal deficit down for April-Dec.'04 period
New Delhi: The fiscal deficit for the April-December 2004 period, at Rs90,239 crore, has turned out to be lower than the Rs92,435-crore figure for the corresponding three quarters of 2003-04.

According to the latest data released by the Controller General of Accounts, the Centre's fiscal deficit during April-December 2004 - the difference between its total expenditures and its receipts from both current and non-debt capital sources - was only 65.7 per cent of the Budget estimate of Rs1,37,407 crore for the entire current fiscal. The Budget had assumed the fiscal deficit for 2004-05 to rise from the revised estimate of Rs1,32,103 crore for 2003-04.

The revenue deficit - the difference between the Centre's revenue expenditures and revenue receipts from tax and non-tax current receipts - for April-December 2004 was Rs62,969 crore, which too, was below the estimated figure of Rs72,999 crore for the corresponding period of 2003-04. At the same time, it has touched 82.7 per cent of the Budget estimate of Rs76,171 crore for the whole of 2004-05.

Primary deficit, which equals the fiscal deficit net of interest payments. however suffered a setback. While the primary deficit during April-December 2004, at Rs10,354 crore, was better than the Rs13,848 crore for the first nine months of 2003-04, it has already crossed the budget estimate of Rs7,907 crore for 2004-05.

On the revenue side, the Centre's total revenue receipts during April-December 2004 stood at Rs188,493 crore (against Rs170,543 crore during April-December 2003), with net tax revenues being Rs141,246 crore (Rs118,795 crore). Significantly though, there was a drop in non-tax revenue collections, from Rs51,748 crore to Rs47,247 crore over this period. There was a similar decline in non-debt capital receipts (Rs48,059 crore against Rs53,325 crore) due to lower proceeds from loan recoveries (Rs45,153 crore versus Rs51,785 crore) and only partially offset by higher disinvestment realisations (Rs2,906 versus Rs1,540 crore).

As a result, total revenue and non-debt capital receipts during April-December 2004, at Rs236,552 crore, were higher than Rs 223,868 crore realised during the corresponding year-ago period.

This, along with a lesser extent of increase in total expenditure (from Rs316,303 crore to Rs326,791 crore), has led to a reduction in the fiscal deficit for the nine months of the current fiscal, from Rs92,435 crore to Rs90,239 crore.

Within the total expenditure, there has been an increase in both non-Plan spending (from Rs239,614 crore during April-December 2003 to Rs245,567 crore during April-December 2004) as well as Plan spending (from Rs76,689 crore to Rs81,224) for the period under review.
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India and Serbia to sign bilateral trade pact
New Delhi: India, Serbia and Montenegro are likely to sign an agreement on bilateral trade very soon, following the agreements on cultural co-operation and on scientific and technical co-operation.

At a meeting between the visiting Serbian Minister of Economy and Privatisation, Predrag Bubalo, and the Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, E.V.K.S. Elangovan, the decision to sign an agreement on bilateral trade was taken up, an official release said. Both the Ministers noted that the current level of bilateral trade was below the potential.

India exported goods worth $16.78 million to Serbia and imported $3.64 million, with the total trade accounting for just $20.42 million during 2003-04.
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Aiyar invites new US Energy Secretary to India
Washington: Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has said that he has invited the new US Energy Secretary, who will take office soon, to visit New Delhi. Aiyar said that the US Department of Energy is giving prominent focus to Asia and especially India for investments.

Aiyar told about 200 representatives of various oil and gas companies, including Exxon Mobil, Chevron Texaco, Shell, Conoco Phillips, Marathon and UNOCAL, that investors in the fifth round of NELP will have time-bound approvals, whereby the operator would be able to initiate work by Jan 1, 2006. There would be a nodal officer as a single window for all interactions with regard to approvals and signing of contracts and additional transparency while screening the bids, he said.
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