Punjab's financial health shows robust signs of recovery, with the state recording a significant surge in tax revenues for the current fiscal year. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema announced that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections have grown by an impressive 16.03 per cent till November 2025.
Robust Growth in Key Revenue Streams
Presenting a detailed review of the sectoral performance, Cheema revealed that the cumulative GST mop-up reached Rs 17,860.09 crore for the period. This marks an increase of Rs 2,467.30 crore compared to the corresponding months of the previous financial year. The minister attributed this growth to the state's focused efforts on economic recovery and a marked improvement in taxpayer compliance.
Simultaneously, the excise revenue stream also demonstrated strong performance. Collections under the Excise Commissionerate rose by 8.64 per cent to Rs 7,401 crore till November. This surge follows the record-breaking performance of the 2024-25 fiscal, where excise revenue had grown by 16.36% to reach Rs 10,723 crore. The department is working towards an ambitious annual target of Rs 11,020 crore set under the Excise Policy 2025-26.
Cheema also highlighted that the collections from Value Added Tax (VAT) and Central Sales Tax (CST) stood at Rs 5,451.76 crore, registering a 3.35 per cent increase year-on-year. He noted that despite the GST 2.0 rate rationalisation in September, which reduced taxes on essential items from 12% to 5%, targeted initiatives by the department ensured that cash tax collections remained steady.
Tech-Driven Enforcement and Settlement Schemes
The Finance Minister credited the department's sophisticated, data-centric approach for the positive figures. A major success has been the One-Time Settlement (OTS) Scheme-2025. As of December 18, the scheme has disposed of 3,574 cases, yielding total recoveries of Rs 52 crore while providing necessary tax waivers to the trading community.
Furthermore, the department's indigenous Tax Intelligence Unit (TIU) leveraged big data analytics to generate actionable insights. This tech-driven vigilance led to the recovery of Rs 344.06 crore in taxes and penalties. Persistent monitoring of GSTR-3B non-filers resulted in cash deposits of a staggering Rs 2,185.96 crore.
Crackdown on Evasion and Capacity Building
Enforcement actions were significantly escalated to curb illegal activities like liquor smuggling and illicit distillation. The State Intelligence & Preventive Units (SIPUs) were particularly active, lodging 3,860 FIRs and making 3,795 arrests this year. Penalty impositions saw a dramatic rise, reaching Rs 618.53 crore between April and November 2025, compared to Rs 321.03 crore for the entire previous year.
To sustain this momentum, the Excise and Taxation department has invested heavily in capacity building. A total of 5,111 officers underwent training through 144 specialised programmes conducted in collaboration with national agencies like the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN) and the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN).
Finance Minister Cheema concluded that these integrated strategies—combining taxpayer-friendly schemes, advanced analytics, and rigorous enforcement—have fortified Punjab's revenue safeguards. He expressed confidence that this would ensure sustained revenue momentum for the remainder of the 2025-26 fiscal year.
