Suburbs top entertainment tax target

MUMBAI: The city suburbs are expected to contribute the highest entertainment tax revenue to the state in the current financial year. Going by the targets set for the year, Pune and Thane will be the next highest revenue generators.
Of the targeted Rs 595 crore in entertainment tax revenue, the city suburbs are expected to bring Rs 150 crore. The figure for Pune is Rs 112 crore and for Thane, Rs 95 crore.The island city collection target is Rs 89 crore.
The new targets are an indication of the population shift trend and growing spending power of the suburbs and tier II cities.
The 2011 census figures show that the population of the island city showed negative growth of -7.6%. At the same time, the suburban population grew marginally by 8.3%. In Thane, the urban population grew by 44% and in Pune by 36%.
"Most of the events for which a ticket is to be purchased happen in the suburbs and the tier-II cities," said Swadhin Kshatriya, additional chief secretary, revenue. "It is on the tickets that the entertainment duty is charged."
He said last year the state collected Rs 599 crore, 6% over its target.
"This has happened largely because of digitization of set-top box," he said. "By year-end, the entire country will have digitized set-top boxes. This has made it easy to monitor individual cable and dish TV connections."
Earlier, cable operators would fudge records. Now all information is available with multi-set operators.
Kshatriya said 75% of the revenue is earned from the cable network.
Earnings from single-screen theatres have declined, but there is a steady stream of revenue from multiplexes. The T-20 matches also bring in substantial revenue.