The excise and custom collections from the northern region declined by 49.14 per cent and 18.21 per cent, respectively, in the first six months of this fiscal.
The total collections of central excise in north — Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh — plummeted to Rs 248.34 crore as on September 2009, compared with Rs 488.26 crore in the same period last fiscal, according to an offical in the Central Excise department.
Excise collections were mainly hit by a considerable reduction in excise duty rates effected by the Centre as part of its stimulus packages in December 2008 and February this year, the official added, saying power cuts and recession also impacted the collections.
Custom collections in the Chandigarh zone also went down to Rs 311.09 crore as on September 2009, observing a fall of 18.21 per cent over the same period previous fiscal.
The major fall in excise collections was observed in industrial districts of Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar.
The collections from these districts fell by a whopping 72.97 per cent to Rs 15.51 crore, said the official.
Similarly, collections in Sangrur, Derabassi, Ropar and Patiala declined by 67.73 per cent to Rs 66.06 crore in the first six months of 2009-10.
The Central Excise Department had targeted to collect Rs 915 crore as excise from its Chandigarh zone.
