Pranab Mukherjee
Confers Presidential Awards to Customs and Excise Officers
Mr. Mukherjee on 22 February
conferred Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificates notified for the year
2011, to 35 officers and staff of the Customs and Central Excise Department.
One of the officers was awarded the certificate for exceptionally meritorious
service at the risk of his life.
The Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
said that the Customs and Excise Department has shown an ability to adapt
quickly and successfully to the challenges of the rapidly changing economic
environment in the country. He said that the introduction of mandatory e-filing
of Central Excise and Service tax returns would not only make the process
convenient for the assesses and reduce the transaction costs, but would also
throw up useful information for analysis and for policy formulation.
The Finance Minister said that Central Excise is a significant contributor
to the indirect tax revenues of the Union Government. He said that the Central
Excise revenue has more than doubled over the last ten years from Rs. 68,282 crore in 2000-01 to Rs. 1,37,427 crore
in 2010-11 which is 40 per cent of the total revenue from Indirect Taxes. Shri Mukherjee said that the in the current financial year,
the collections from Central Excise up to January, 2012 stand at Rs. 1,17,730 crore, out of total
indirect tax collections of Rs. 3,17, 233 crore. He said that there has been exponential growth in
the service tax revenues over the years. As compared to a revenue of just Rs. 2612 crore in 2000-01, the
service tax collections in 2010-11 stood at Rs.
70,391 crore, which is about 20 per cent of total
indirect tax collections, the Finance Minister said. The Finance Minister said
that the indirect tax collection figures up to January 2012 indicate that there
have been some gains over the last year. However, the Finance Minister said
that still further efforts are required to ensure to meet the target of
indirect tax collections for the current fiscal.
The ceremony was widely attended by serving and retired officers
of the Department as well as invitees from outside.
[Source: Ministry of
Finance, PIB Press Release dated 22nd February 2012]