The Income Tax Department today said it aims to disburse refunds of over Rs 1 lakh crore this fiscal, against Rs 73,000 crore given in the previous fiscal.

"We intend to refund approximately Rs 1 lakh crore this fiscal," the outgoing Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Sudhir Chandra said here while exuding confidence of achieving the direct tax collection target for 2011-12.

About Rs 30,000 crore has already been disbursed to about 32.5 lakh claimants in the first two months of the fiscal.

Chandra said that the board would be able to meet the direct tax collection target for the current fiscal despite apprehensions of a slowdown in the economy.

The government has set the direct tax collection at Rs 5.32 lakh crore for 2011-12.

"But we have resolved to collect a gross tax of Rs 6.37 lakh crore," Chandra said, adding that timely refunds helped the I-T department in encouraging people to file taxes.

Besides, the department would further strengthen its vigil against tax evaders to increase the collection, he said.

He informed that tax collections in the first 45 days of the fiscal is about Rs 27,000 crore, which is three times higher than the amount collected in the same period last year.

Earlier, Revenue Secretary Sunil Mitra had said the government could miss the revenue collection targets during 2011-12 mainly on account of high inflation and moderation in economic growth.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today warned that high inflation could moderate the pace of economic growth in the current fiscal.

In its pre-Budget survey, the government had pegged the GDP for 2011-12 at 9 per cent. However, the Reserve Bank in its monetary policy released earlier this month had said that economic growth during 2011-12 would be only around 8 per cent.

The country's GDP is estimated to have expanded at a rate of 8.5 per cent in the last fiscal.

Chandra said that with setting up the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) in the CBDT, the Government would be able to get banking information on cross border deals in countries including tax havens where India is revising its tax treaties. (PTI)