Indirect tax collection climbed more than 44 per cent to Rs 1,50,686 crore in the first half of the current fiscal, as compared to the year-ago period.
The indirect tax kitty comprises customs, central excise and service taxes.
"The collection rose to Rs 1,50,686 crore during April-September 2010. Thus, there is an increase of 44.4 per cent in revenue collections at all India level during April-September 2010 as compared to the corresponding period in previous year," an official statement said today.
According to sources, the rise in indirect tax collection was mainly on account of partial withdrawal of the stimulus measures in the budget, besides economic recovery witnessed in the current fiscal.
In first six months of this fiscal, revenue collections from customs jumped 66.8 per cent to Rs 63,229 crore as against the year-ago period.
"Collections from central excise rose to Rs 60,834 crore in April-September 2010, an increase of 40.7 per cent...," the statement said.
Revenue collections from service tax went up by 14.8 per cent to Rs 26,623 crore in the first half of current fiscal.
Total revenue collections of Rs 1,50,686 crore from indirect taxes during the period under review represents around 48.1 per cent of the budget estimates of 2010-11.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the budget raised excise duty from 8 to 10 per cent and also increased duties on crude oil and petroleum products. The service tax rate was retained at 10 per cent.
