Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the government will zero in on tax defaulters more rigorously using data intelligence from the "wealth of information" that his ministry has gathered through the Annual Information Report.

Answering supplementaries in the Rajya Sabha during Question Hour, Chidambaram said there was still a large untapped potential for raising the tax resources.

"The number of people who should be brought under income tax assessment is growing day by day, so the government will be making greater use of information and intelligence to zero in on defaulters," he said.

Information and intelligence had paid dividends as 23 lakh (2.3 million) more income tax assessees had been added to the list of tax payers by October end, he said.

The revenue from direct taxes went up sharply this year as economy grew by seven per cent indicating increased incomes, the minister added.

Replying to another supplementary, he admitted that evasion of large sums in central excise duty was taking place.

Chidambaram also informed the House that the ministry of agriculture was taking a comprehensive review of the Agriculture Insurance Scheme.