Customs and Central Excise Revenue cross 1 Lakh Crores
The customs and Central Excise Revenue up to October has reached 1.1 Lakh Crores, customs contributing about 50,000 Crores and Central Excise about 60,000 Crores. Customs recorded a 32.7% growth while it was 5.8% for excise over the previous year. Service Tax collections at 16,000 Crores for the first half of the year recorded a phenomenal 65% growth. But even though the FM may be smiling all his way to the Bank and Parliament, the excise assessees may be in for a lot of unfriendly visits from the excise officers.
The Excise Revenue is not growing as much as they wish it to. For the month of October, the duty was just 0.8% over October last year. Overanxious officers are sure to go nuts on revenue drives. Already the squeeze on cenvat credit has started. In the next few months all kinds of tricks in the trade will be employed to artificially jack up revenue and fool the FM and the country that excise revenue has indeed gone up by whatever percentage the FM wanted it to grow.
If the FM and the Board can accept for one year the real revenue instead of fabricated illicitly manufactured revenue, many of the evils of the system=m can be eradicated.