Mumbai Excise Collections Set To Fall Short Of Target By Rs 2631

Excise collections in Mumbai region is currently short of the target by Rs 2631 crore for this fiscal with just 45 days left, according to chief excise commissioner Gopinath Sarangi.

Speaking to reporters here yesterday, Sarangi, however, expressed confidence in achieving the target of Rs 8900 crore within the period with the co-operation of the industry.

Asked if the recession and downfall in production had led to the shortfall, Sarangi asked, then where did the VDIS declarations come from? According to him, 60 per cent of the declarants were manufacturers from the region.

Last year, the Mumbai region fell short of the target by Rs 500-600 crore, he said terming this years deficit as a staggering increase over the previous year.

Sarangi denied harassment to the industry with regard to modvat and seizure of RG23 ledgers.

The department had only requested payments through the personal ledger accounts, but some section of the industry has termed this as harassment, he said.

The commissioner, who earlier met representatives of various chambers of commerce and industry, sought their co-operation to meet the excise target and in turn promised immediate redressal of their grievances.

The department, in association with the chambers, has set up a grievance redressal cell, he informed. The department has been extremely flexible in its approach, he said adding that certain BIFR cases had been allowed to claim modvat credit on request.

Asked to justify the seizure of modvat registers, he said it was part of the enquiry process. Cost audit is a precursor to a check on modvat utilisation by an assessee, he said adding that it cannot be construed as an action against the assessee. The industry has been agitating against the department alleging harassment by forcibly seizing modvat registers. and other books of account to compel businessmen to pay from their personal ledger accounts.