Report by OrissaDiary.com correspondent; Bhubaneswar: Orissa recorded income tax collection to the tune of Rs 1511 cores till July 18 of current financial year. In this the state achieved a growth rate of 29.6 percent over the same period of last year. However, the growth in this is more than the national average, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Orissa, Kamalakant Mohapatra said.

While addressing a function to mark the occasion of completion of 150th year of Income tax in India, Shri Mohapatra said that Orissa has recorded 29.6 percent growth in income tax collection, contrary to all India trend of 7.6 percent. With this the department is quite optimistic to achieve the target of Rs 7142 crore by the end of current financial year. In 2010-11 income tax collection from Orissa was 6331 crore. However, the collection just five years back was only Rs 7142 crore.

The Income Tax Department of Orissa region consists of 20 stations, with manpower strength of around 600, out of which 120 are officers. The cost of collection of tax in the state is amongst the lowest in the world, the chief commissioner said. The department is among 10 Central Government Department chosen for Sevottam Scheme, which aims at excellence in service delivery. Bhubaneswar is one of the chosen few stations of the country, where Sevottam will be operational in next few days. Besides very soon sevottam will be operational also at Sambalpur and Rourkela stations of the Income Tax Department.