Despite buoyant advance tax collections expected to total about Rs 50,000 crore in the December installment, signs of a slowdown in corporate India, especially in the infrastructure sector, seems imminent. An analysis of the top advance tax paying infrastructure Companies reveals that the advance tax payment for the fourth quarter is significantly lower for some of them. While many Companies in the sector, such as Steel Authority of India Ltd, National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India Ltd (ONGC), continue to be amongst the country’s top advance tax paying firms, several other Companies have shelled out significantly lesser amounts as advance tax in the forth installment ending March 15, compared to the same period last fiscal. Oil major ONGC, which is the top tax payer across all sectors, shelled out 26% lower advance tax in the fourth quarter amounting to Rs 2,092 crore. This is much lower than the Rs 2,859 crore the state-run company paid as advance tax in March 2007. Another oil biggie Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd’s advance tax payments for the quarter has declined 12.73% to Rs 240 crore in March 2008, against Rs 275 crore it paid in March 2007. Similarly, metal biggie Tata Steel’s tax payment for the quarter has declined by 14.2% to Rs 300 crore in March this fiscal as against Rs 350 crore it paid in the same period last fiscal. Another mining company Hindalco’s profits in this quarter seem to be lower as it shelled out only Rs 150 crore in the fourth advance tax instalment for this fiscal. This is a whopping 43% decline from the Rs 265 crore it paid as the fourth instalment for 2006-07. Advance tax, paid in four installments through out the year are a pointer towards a company’s financial performance as they are based on its estimated annual earnings. Official figures released on Wednesday already reveal that the performance of the six core infrastructure industries, including crude oil production power, cement and coal, has declined significantly to 4.2% in January 2008, against 8.3% in the same month last year. – www.financialexpress.com