Direct tax collections grew by 3.92 per cent to Rs. 1,73,447 crore for the first seven months of current fiscal. This is around 2 lakh crore rupees short of the target for the mop-up this financial year. The Central Board of Direct Taxes said in a statement that the net direct tax collections for the period are lower due to higher tax refunds given by the government which amounted to over 33, 000 crore rupees. The government in the Budget for 2009-10 has set a target of 3.7 lakh crore rupees as direct tax collection, which was later revised to 4 lakh crore.