Buoyed by a 30 per cent increase in indirect tax collections in the first quarter this fiscal, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) today said that the overall collection target for 2011-12 would be comfortably met.

For the April-June 2011 period, the Centre's indirect tax collections stood at Rs 95,797 crore, registering a 30.11 per cent increase over Rs 73,626 crore recorded in same period last year.

“I don't see any economic slowdown. Our indirect tax collections have grown by 30 per cent in the first quarter. Our overall annual targeted growth rate is only 15 per cent. If this trend persists, we should comfortably achieve our annual targets,” Mr S. Dutt Majumder, Chairman, CBEC, told reporters here on Friday.

But the collection performance for the first quarter does not cover the latest Government move to scrap 5 per cent customs duty on crude oil and also reduce by the same percentage points the customs duty on petro products like petrol and diesel.

The loss estimated by the Finance Ministry during the remaining nine months of the current fiscal, as a result of duty cuts, is Rs 37,000 crore, of which Centre's share would be about Rs 27,000 crore. “To make good this loss, I (centre) have to earn additional Rs 37,000 crore and not Rs 27,000 crore,” he noted.

The slowdown in industrial output growth notwithstanding, the Centre's excise duty collections grew 24.65 per cent in April-June this year to Rs 29,885 crore (Rs 37,253 crore). While customs duty collections grew 33.96 per cent to Rs 38,168 crore (Rs 28,490 crore), service tax collections grew 33.60 per cent to Rs 20,376 crore (Rs 15,251 crore).

The Centre's gross direct tax collections had registered a 24 per cent increase in the first quarter this fiscal, but the net collections recorded 17 per cent decline, mainly due to a big jump in refund payouts.

> krsrivats@thehindu.co.in

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