Ludhiana ranks second in evasion of excise duty

Ludhiana has ranked second, next only to Pune, in evading maximum amount of excise duty to the tune of Rs 47 crore in the current fiscal.

Ludhiana achieved this dubious distinction after Central Excise Department sleuths today discovered a case of fraud amounting to Rs 15 crore in the city.

The fraud, committed by a Ludhiana-based garment exporter, is the second highest excise duty evasion unearthed here by the department within three months.

"We have collectively discovered duty evasion of Rs 47 crore as against the national average of less than 5 per cent of total excise target, the duty evasion in Ludhiana stands at 12 per cent of total revenue target of this region," Ludhiana Central Excise Commissioner V K Garg told reporters here.

Garg said the garment exporter claimed rebates worth Rs 15 crore fraudulently by showing bogus Cenvat invoices procured from a large number of parties in Surat and Gujarat.

Considering the rebate claimed by the accused, he must have shown bogus exports worth Rs 180 crore in the last three years, he added.

Investigations carried out by the department further revealed that the accused had shown three manufacturing entities in the same premises without having independent plants.

Even the collective manufacturing facilities of the three entities are incapable of manufacturing many of the products said to have been exported, the Commissioner said.

He further said that the goods which were shown supplied to four workers were also non-existent.

Investigation further highlighted that the accused had opened 120 bank accounts in 15-20 banks and in one of the accounts, he had carried out transactions worth Rs 5.5 crore in cash.

"The accused is absconding," said Garg and added that the department would like to share the information with the Income Tax Department and Customs department as well to aid in unearthing other such cases.