The port sector has emerged as the top contributor to service tax in the state,recording a staggering year-on-year growth of 42% for the first nine months of the current financial year. The revenue collected from the port services has surpassed those from the telecommunication services. Rising export cargo from ports has been cited as the reason behind this growth. Reliance Port and Terminal Ltd,Jamanagar has emerged as the top service tax payer with Rs 168 crore (up to December). The port had seen almost a 11% growth in service tax payments compared to Rs 157 crore clocked for the same period in 2010. Adani Port and Special Economic Zone (earlier known as MPSEZ) has emerged as the second highest contributor among the ports. It paid Rs 126 crore in the first three quarters of 2011-12,as against Rs 40 crore paid in 2010-11. According to data obtained from the Service Tax department,Ahmedabad zone (including Rajkot and Bhavnagar),port services contributed Rs 369 crore in the current fiscal year up to December,compared to Rs 258 crore in the previous financial year. In comparison,telecommunications stood fourth with a growth of 20% in the current year. Transport of goods by road was the second highest service tax payer at Rs 154 crore,which is 17% more than the previous year. Its all related to volume of exports,which is increasing in the state and therefore,the goods transported by road services have also seen a surge. It is mostly happening because of the central and state governments incentives on export activities, said an official from the service tax department. In the third quarter this year,minor ports registered a growth rate of 13%. The ports (apart from the major port of Kandla) handled 193 million tonne of cargo,as against the 170 million tonne it had handled in the corresponding period of 2010. The traffic in the ports like Magdalla/Hazira,Bedi,Dahej,Sikka,Mundra and others saw a rise in cargo. In the last decade alone,the capacity of minor ports in the state has seen more than two-fold rise,from 135 million tonne to 284 million tonne (at the end of 2010-11). By the end of the current fiscal,the capacity of traffic handling of Gujarat is expected to touch 323 million tonne per annum. Besides ports and telecommunications,tax collections from business auxiliary services,manpower recruiting agencies,services outsourced for mining of mineral,oil or gas,maintenance,and repair and transportation of goods through pipelines have also increased.
