Excise Dept revenues grows 11
TNN Bureau. Updated: 8/12/2017 2:18:41 AM
Front Page
%
JAMMU: Undeterred by introduction of the new tax regime, the Jammu and Kashmir Excise department has registered a growth of over 11% in revenue realization in first 4 months of the financial year 2017-18 viz-a-viz the same period in last financial year.
Even bettering the revenue targets it has fixed for the current financial year, the State Excise department has realized Rs. 460.91 crores up to the month of July, 2017, 46 crore rupees more than the amount of 413.33 crore it had realized over the same period in financial year 2016-17.
The better performance is being majorly attributed to the Jammu Executive Wing which has registered a growth of 93.46% in revenue realization while Distilleries Wing registered a growth of 17.22%.
Even the Lakhanpur Toll Post, which was believed to be shutting down following the implementation of Goods and Services Tax in Jammu and Kashmir, has registered a growth rate of 9% in the said period. The Toll Post, as informed by Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu, is not closing before state budget in April 2018, post which a decisive call would be taken on its fate.
This was informed in a meeting convened by the Excise Commissioner Mohammad Javed Khan, who reviewed the progress and directed all the officers to keep the momentum in coming months as well.
The department's Eradication and Enforcement activities were also highlighted in the meeting, as teams of different ranges of the State have conducted 372 raids to arrest the menace of illegal smuggling of liquor from other States, illicit distillation of liquor and other violations, while arresting 14 persons in the process.
The Excise sleuths have destroyed about ten tonnes of Lahan meant for manufacturing illicit liquor in the entire Jammu Division, while smashing 415 bottles of illicit liquor in the process. The enforcement team in Kashmir Valley also, has destroyed Bhang over an area of 1003 kanals of land and Poppy over an area of about 2863 Kanals of land.
Exhorting the officers to go for review of their respective wings and Excise Ranges in consultation with the stakeholders, the Excise Commissioner stressed for removing the bottlenecks and impediments to the growth and their timely removal, while them to conduct frequent field visits for maintaining round the clock vigil for revenue realisation.