Shimla, May 1 : The Department of Taxes and Excise in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday said it made the highest ever single month collection of Rs 497 crore under GST in April, a hike of 17 per cent from Rs 426 crore to Rs 497 crore. In 2021-22, the department had exceeded the GST annual targets by approximately Rs 248 crore with collection of Rs 4,390 crore. A government statement said the department has envisaged a project for capacity augmentation and revenue enhancement to improve GST collections. The project aims mainly at improving ICT (information and communication technology) infrastructure of the department. The department is also in the process of establishing a GST training cell for continuous capacity building of officers. The implementation of the departmental restructuring, which has been principally approved by the Cabinet alongside well trained tax officers, is expected to provide further push to the GST revenue collections in the coming financial year, it said. The improvement in return filing, speedy scrutiny of returns, timely completion of GST audits and strengthened enforcement continue to be focus areas for the department. The department has targeted to improve upon approximately 2.5 lakh e-way bill verifications done in its road checking drive in the previous year. It is committed to improve voluntary compliance with time-bound redressal of the issues of the stakeholders under the Tax Haat Program. /IANS