Chandigarh, Jan. 20 -- Punjab's non-tax revenue collections have witnessed a massive surge in financial year 2025-26, with the state achieving its full-year target within the first three quarters itself. The non-tax revenue (NTR) has soared past the Rs.10,000-crore mark for the first time, standing at Rs.12,761.45 crore at the end of nine months (April-December). This strong collection has already surpassed the budget target of Rs.12,210.57 crore for the entire year, according to data on key fiscal indicators released last week. In comparison, the NTR was Rs.4,540 crore during the corresponding April-December period of the previous financial year and at Rs.6,277.11 crore for the full year against a target of Rs.11,246.33 crore. A finance department official said the government had been consistently trying to increase its own NTR by improving compliance and efficiency. "The strong collection has come as a huge relief, especially in view of the impact that goods and services tax (GST) rate reforms are having on our tax collections," he said. The overhaul of the indirect tax regime has dampened the growth in GST collections. GST revenue recorded a steady year-on-year growth of 15% in the first half of the financial year (April-September period), but then fell to almost half of that level - 8.5%, to be precise - for the nine-month period, indicating a sharp slowdown in growth in the third quarter following the implementation of GST 2.0 from September 22. Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema, during a pre-budget meeting with Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman a week ago, pointed out that Punjab had suffered a severe and continuing revenue shock due to the GST rate rationalisation. He pressed for a predictable stabilisation or compensation mechanism for states facing such revenue erosion. GST has been the single largest contributor to the state's own tax revenue, accounting for 43.5% in FY25. Despite successive governments making efforts to improve collections, NTR had been repeatedly well short of budget targets year after year. The share of the state's NTR in revenue receipts has also been declining. A white paper on state finances, presented by the present government in June 2022, had expressed concern over the failure of previous governments to realise the state's NTR potential, describing the situation as being "in doldrums". Earlier, a study conducted by the Institute of Economic Growth stated that during the period 1990-91 to 2009-10, on an average, Punjab's own NTR contributed 29.6% of the state's own revenue (SOR), but this share declined to 10.6% during 2010-11 to 2016-17. The primary reasons for the poor NTR generation were uneconomic pricing of social, economic and general services comprising of guarantee fees, lottery receipts and receipt in respect of jails, supplies and disposals, animal husbandry, industries and tourism departments, negligible revenue from like power and tourism, and low returns from the public enterprises, according to the report....