Vizag Zone's customs, excise kitty swells 15%

The Visakhapatnam Zone's customs and central excise revenue collections for the year ended 2003-04 has seen a growth of about 15 per cent at Rs 6,124.06 crore. The zone expects a 15 per cent growth in revenues for the current fiscal also.

The zone includes Visakhapatnam I and II, Guntur and Tirupati commissionerates, and the Vizag customs house.

"During 2003-04, the zone's revenue collections increased by around 15 per cent. If the prevailing customs and central excise rates continue, this year also we can expect the same growth," T V Sairam, chief commissioner of Customs and Central Excise, Visakhapatnam Zone, told Business Standard.

"The Vizag Zone's customs and central excise revenue collections have increased to Rs 6,124.06 crore, as compared to Rs 5,327.5 crore in the previous year. Thus, registering a 15 per cent growth, whereas the growth at the all-India level is 10.6 per cent only," he added.

The central excise department collected Rs 4,509.89 crore during the fiscal under consideration, as compared with Rs 3,882.54 crore in the preceding year, registering a growth of 16.07 per cent (all-India growth at 11.93 per cent).

On the other hand, the customs department saw a 11.71 per cent spurt in customs revenue realisation at Rs 1,614.17 crore, as compared to Rs 1,444.95 crore in 2002-03.

The all-India growth in customs revenue realised is 8.19 per cent, Sairam said, adding that the excise collection was high in 2003-04 despite the policy of reducing the effective rates of excise duties on a number of commodities such as steel, aerated water etc, which had affected the revenue collection in the zone.

"Sixty per cent of our total collections came from petroleum products. Also, during 2003-04, about Rs 700 crore revenue collection was shifted from the Vizag Zone to the Hyderabad Zone, because of the Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad petroleum products pipeline. Otherwise, this zone's revenue would have been much higher," he disclosed.

"In the current year, we are expecting a good growth in the steel and petroleum industries, which is likely to boost the zone's revenue collection further," he added.