West Bengal CM Orders Departmental Blueprints to Curb Revenue Leakage

Kolkata, July 24 – The chief minister's office in West Bengal has directed every state department to draft a detailed blueprint that pinpoints sources of revenue loss and proposes corrective actions. The move is aimed at strengthening the state's tax base and ensuring a measurable rise in collections. Each ministry must submit a report outlining how it has implemented past tax changes, identify sectors where leakage is most probable, and suggest safeguards. Priority has been given to agriculture, transport, land and land‑reform, public works, and health, as these areas historically account for the largest share of fiscal receipts and vulnerabilities.

A senior official at the state secretariat explained that the blueprint exercise will be complemented by a comprehensive review of the revenue targets set during the previous Trinamool Congress administration and an assessment of how much of those goals were actually met. Departments are also required to disclose the last date and nature of any tax amendments they introduced.

The incumbent government claims that early‑stage interventions have already generated an additional ₹1,000 crore in tax revenue within the first two months of its tenure. By extending the blueprint protocol to all ministries, the administration hopes to further boost overall collections before the close of the 2026‑27 financial year.

According to officials, the earlier system was deliberately designed to facilitate large‑scale institutional corruption, leading to systematic revenue loss. The upcoming white paper will document these shortcomings, highlighting the sectors where collection gaps occurred and estimating the fiscal damage incurred.

Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta emphasized that eliminating revenue leakages is the most effective way to raise the state's coffers without imposing heavier tax slabs on the public. Critics who questioned the lack of explicit revenue‑growth directives in the recent budget were reminded that the government's decisive actions from day one are already bearing fruit.