Excise duty collection up 22.7 per cent in August

Excise duty collection in the country rose 22.7 per cent in August from the month before on the back of a strong industry showing, raising hopes that the government may meet its indirect tax mop-up target for the current fiscal.

Excise duty collection in July stood at Rs6,934 crore, down 31.52 per cent from the Rs10,125 crore collected in July last year.

The government has set an indirect tax collection target of about Rs2,70,000 crore for fiscal 2009-10.

``The industry is clearly showing signs of revival. Excise collection in August is up 22.7 per cent compared to last month," said V Sridhar, chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). "We are hopeful of meeting the target," he added.

Customs duty collection, however, remained in negative territory, although up marginally at (-)28 per cent against (-) 30 per cent in July this year, Sridhar said on the sidelines of a function organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The higher growth in excise duty collections comes on the back of a steep 16 per cent growth in sugar production, and a 4 to 5 per cent growth in petroleum products, Sridhar said.