SMC octroi collection dips by Rs 6.34 cr

The incessant rainfall and the truckers' strike have taken a toll on the octroi income of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC). The octroi income has fallen by around Rs 6.34 crore August.

Octroi is by far the biggest source of income for SMC. For the financial year 2004-05, SMC has set the octroi income target at Rs 320 crore. For the month of August, the octroi income was targeted to be Rs 31.44 crore, but the actual octroi collection was only Rs 25.10 crore.

An octroi official said, "On an average, our daily octroi collection is Rs 85-90 lakh. But in the first week of August, during the time of the floods, trade and industry were badly affected.

The flow of goods and material in the city was disturbed a great deal, which led to a fall in octroi income.

"Similarly, during the week-long truckers' strike, hardly any goods or material were brought into the city.

As a result, the daily octroi collections fell to Rs 20-25 lakh, compared with the normal amount of Rs 85-90 lakh. This resulted in revenue loss of over Rs 60 lakh to SMC each day," he said.

SMC is, however, hopeful of making up for these losses in the coming days.

Another octroi department official said, "We have suffered losses of Rs 6.34 crore in August. It is not a small amount, but when we are targeting octroi income of Rs 320 crore, it is not a very big amount either.

Business will pick up during the coming festival season, so we are confident that we will be able to make up for the lost octroi income."