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Summary
The initiative, which digitizes revenue collection, follows successful implementations in Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh, aiming to empower local governance through improved transparency and efficiency.
New Delhi: In a move to strengthen targeted policy framing and financial autonomy at the grassroots, the Centre is set to expand rollout of its Samarth Panchayat portal to states including Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, a senior official said. Successful pilots have already been run in Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh.
The online platform helps village panchayats generate and collect tax and non-tax payments, maintain records and track revenue. It was designed to help them manage their revenues, bring transparency and efficiency to local finance and targeted policy framing.
“The portal, already piloted in Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, will digitize OSR (own source of revenue) collections and also enable online payments and asset management across the panchayats of Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra,” Sushil Kumar Lohani, additional secretary in the panchayati raj ministry, told Mint.
India has a total of 266,999 panchayats, including 57,678 in Uttar Pradesh, 27,894 in Maharashtra and 2,192 in Assam.
The onboarding of large states such as Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra is expected to significantly scale up the impact of the initiative, given their vast rural populations and extensive panchayati raj networks. Assam’s inclusion is seen as a key step in expanding the platform’s footprint in the North-East.
By standardizing revenue processes and providing real-time data analytics, the portal aims to empower local bodies to improve their financial planning and service delivery through technology-driven solutions.
“The portal will play a crucial role in digitizing, strengthening, and streamlining the functioning of gram panchayats in India. It would also streamline revenue collection processes, facilitate online payments, and help panchayats manage assets and income sources to enhance their financial self-reliance,” Lohani said.
There is currently no centralized and publicly accessible database with detailed panchayat-level revenue data. The portal aims to bridge this gap by creating a comprehensive database on panchayat revenues, enabling state and central governments to design targeted policy interventions for the specific needs of individual panchayats.
According to ministry data, 25 states, including Union territories, have developed and implemented OSR-based regulations that allow panchayats to levy and collect taxes, fees, tolls and other local sources of revenue. These include Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The platform was developed after studying and integrating best practices and features from various state portals.
While noting the benefits of the plan, some experts pressed for hand-holding the panchayats for this digital adoption. “Many panchayats face challenges such as limited digital literacy and lack of technical expertise. To ensure seamless adoption, focused training programmes and handholding are essential,” said Prashant Chauhan, head of the department of social work and development studies at Amity University, Noida.
Panchayats, which function as grassroots institutions for implementing government schemes and advancing sustainable development goals, receive grants from both the Centre and state governments. They also generate limited internal revenue through local taxes and user charges.
About the Author
Vijay C Roy
Vijay C. Roy is a journalist with over 21 years of experience covering various news beats across different organisations such as Business Standard and The Tribune. In the past, he has covered beats such as finance, auto, MSME, commodities, FMCG, pharmaceutical, agriculture, IT/ITES, infrastructure and start-ups. He joined Mint in February 2025, and covers agriculture, food processing, fertilizers, environment and climate change, bringing over two decades of experience reporting on farm policy, food inflation, crop trade, and rural livelihoods.<br><br>Vijay’s areas of reporting include food security and climate change policies, focusing on their impact on different stakeholders and their implications. His expertise lies in simplifying complex agri-economic issues such as edible oil import dependence, cotton and wheat trends, fertiliser subsidies, and climate-related risks. He has covered key developments including global supply disruptions and evolving trade policies, offering both macroeconomic perspective and field-level context. Known for his credible and balanced reporting, he follows a rigorous, fact-based approach that prioritises accuracy and context. He is driven by a commitment to public interest, aiming to make critical agricultural and economic issues accessible while contributing to informed policy and industry discussions.
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