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Customs yield short of target

Our Bureau

CHENNAI, Oct. 27

THE customs collection in the April-September period of the current financial year was Rs 23,331.75 crore, as against the year's target of Rs 53,570 crore.

In the corresponding period of last year, customs revenue was Rs 22,190.08 crore, as against the whole year's collection of Rs 48,315.30 crore, according to Mr Gingee N Ramachandran, Union Minister of State for Finance, in charge of Revenue.

The Government had fixed a target for the current year, 10.88 per cent higher than last year's collection. As against this, collections in the first half was only about six per cent higher than what the Government collected in the same period of last yea r.

Excise collections were better. Against the full year's target of Rs 70,967 crore, the collections in the first half year were Rs 30,951.51 crore.

The target was higher than last year's collections by 15.6 per cent. The actual collections in the first half was 14.75 per cent higher than the collections in the same period of last year.

In April-September 1999, excise collections amounted to Rs 26,972.31 crore.

Talking to presspersons here, Mr Ramachandran expressed confidence that collections would pick up in the second half of the current year.