The Hindu Business Line : Indirect tax collections up 9.5% in first half

EXCISE and customs duty collection of the Central Government surged by 9.5 per cent in the first six months of the current fiscal to Rs 69,611 crore, against Rs 63,576 crore achieved in the same period last year.

While excise mop-up for the period under review stood at Rs 44,463 crore (Rs 40,409 crore in April-September 2003), customs collections during stood at Rs 25,148 crore (Rs 23,167).

Commenting on the collection performance, the Chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Mr A.K. Singh, told reporters here that the Board was confident of meeting the customs duty collection target for the current fiscal. The customs duty collections target for 2004-05 has been set at Rs 54,250 crore.

He, however, hinted that it might be difficult for the Revenue Department to achieve the excise duty collection target of Rs 1,09,199 crore for 2004-05 on account of the duty cuts in petroleum products and other items.

To tackle rising inflation, the Government had in the recent months resorted to excise and customs duty cuts in petroleum products, steel, edible oil and polymers. These cuts are estimated to cost the exchequer a little over Rs 5,075 crore.