Hit hard by the ban on iron ore mining, customs collection in the Goa Commissionerate has slipped by over 70 per cent during the first seven months of the current fiscal.
“The Supreme Court had recently allowed e-auction and hopefully things would start looking up with regard to iron ore exports,” said V.P.C. Rao, Commissioner, Customs and Central Excise, Goa.
The ban on iron ore mining by the Supreme Court last year in September had adversely impacted economic activities in Goa and also the collection of import and export duties.
According to Rao, the realisation from import and export duties in April-October of the current fiscal slipped to Rs 457.43 crore from Rs 1,605.51 crore in the corresponding period last year.
The realisation from export duty, which had been the major contributor of revenue, slipped to a meagre Rs 14.85 crore during the seven months period as compared to Rs 1,166.63 crore in the same period last fiscal.
The export duty on iron ore, which is levied at 30 per cent, has been the major source of revenue from the State.
The Centre had collected as much as Rs 3,714.18 crore as export duty during 2011-12, raising the total duty realisation from the commissionerate to Rs 4,527.96 crore.
The ban on mining has also impacted the financial condition of the Mormugao port which is currently focusing on passenger traffic to improve its finances.
Rao said the port had set up facilities to receive cruise ships and the customs authorities were providing necessary support to facilitate operations.
Three cruise vessels had arrived in the current tourist season and many more were expected to come.
Last year, twelve cruise ships came to Goa.
Answering questions on the likelihood of spurt in gold smuggling following duty hike by the Centre, Rao said, “Goa has a coastline of 105 km. ..but we are fully prepared to meet the challenge.”
He further said the Goa Customs had acquired some of the best and modern patrolling boats and had a dedicated staff to keep vigil on activities around the coastline.
Admitting that smugglers often come out with innovative ideas, he said, “we are ready from our side with modern technology and weaponry to take the challenge head on.”
He further said that recently Goa Customs seized 12 kg of gold valued at Rs 3.6 crore which was concealed in the seat of an aircraft.
The Customs, Rao added, was active on both sea and air fronts to deal with the menace of gold smuggling.
There have been spurt in smuggling after the Centre raised the duty and imposed restrictions to curb the import of gold to check the rising current account deficit (CAD), the difference between inflow and outflow of foreign exchange.