Lucknow, Feb. 28 -- Chief minister Yogi Adityanath chaired a high-level meeting on Friday to conduct a detailed review of the updated status of tax and non-tax revenue receipts up to the end of February in the financial year 2025-26. He assessed the targets and achievements presented by the GST, VAT, excise, stamp and registration, transport, energy, land revenue and mining departments. Revenue growth determined the pace of development activities in the state, he said. He directed all departments to accelerate efforts toward achieving targets through transparency, efficiency, and innovation-driven functioning. The meeting was informed that against the annual tax revenue target of Rs.2,95,000 crore for FY 2025-26, a total of Rs.1,96,177 crore had been collected by February 2026. The target for State Taxes (GST + VAT) is Rs.1,75,725 crore, against which Rs.1,03,770 crore has been collected so far. This includes Rs.75,195 crore under GST and Rs.28,575 crore under VAT. The state tax department, according to a government spokesman, reported significant improvement in tax compliance due to initiatives such as GST 2.0, AI-based risk analysis, large-scale scrutiny, effective monitoring of e-invoicing and e-way bills. Major outcomes include the investigation of 1.59 lakh taxpayers using AI-based systems, outreach programs across 75 districts, control over fake ITC claims, and recovery of Rs.3,117 crore. The excise department reported that against its annual target of Rs.63,000 crore, it had collected Rs.48,501 crore by February 2026. This amount is 13.2% higher than that of the previous year. The renewal rate of liquor shops for FY 2026-27 stands at 93.75%. The department presented a roadmap to generate an additional Rs.9,050 crore in March through strategies such as consumption-based planning, shop renewals, license fees, advance demand notices, and wholesale and brand renewals. Total revenue by year-end is estimated to reach approximately Rs.57,550 crore. The stamp and registration department recorded Rs.29,487 crore against its annual target of Rs.38,150 crore for FY 2025-26 by February. Officials from the transport department stated that against the annual target of Rs.14,000 crore, Rs.11,005 crore has been collected by February. Plans to intensify tax recovery camps, monitoring drives, and digital supervision in the coming period were also presented. The land revenue and energy departments jointly reported revenue of Rs.3,414 crore by February, which is 12.6% higher compared to the same period last year. The mining and geology department said that against its target of Rs.6,000 crore for FY 2025-26, it had collected Rs.3,597 crore by February....