Top 100 companies pay 10% more in advance tax in Q2

This was driven by handsome payout by top corporates like SBI , LIC and HDFC Bank , which helped negate a 15% drop by the largest corporate RIL.

The overall growth in the top 100 corporate tax payers from the metrapolis, which contributes to over 30% of income collection annually, comes even as there has been gloomy news on the economic front.

On a half-yearly basis, there has been an 11% jump among the top 100 list, a senior income tax department official said here today.

Advance tax is a staggered way of paying income taxes through the year to avoid piling up of tax liability for the year-end. It is generally taken as a barometer of corporate earnings for the period.

The country's largest lender State Bank's advance tax payment was up 10.30% to Rs 1,820 crore from Rs 1,650 crore it had paid a year ago, the official said, adding its competitors ICICI Bank (Rs 815 crore against Rs 650 crore) and Bank of Baroda (Rs 620 crore against Rs 600 crore) also did well during the reporting period.

The second largest private sector lender HDFC Bank, which is the most valued bank by market capitalisation, showed an impressive 37.5% rise in payout, with the amount going up to Rs 1,100 crore from Rs 800 crore. For life insurance giant LIC, it jumped to Rs 1,300 crore from Rs 1,160 crore, the official said.

However, in the case of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries , which is the country's largest company by market value, September quarter tax outgo declined 15% to Rs 1,530 crore from Rs 1,800 crore in the year-ago period, the official said.