As per the news in PTI, the government said it hopes to exceed the estimated figure 3.36 lakh crore, through indirect tax collection for this fiscal in view of the optimism in the economy. Boosted by higher revenue mop-up during April-December 2010-11, the government last month upped indirect tax collection estimates by 7 per cent to Rs. 3.36 lakh crore for this fiscal, from earlier Budget target of Rs. 3.15 lakh crore. It also raised the target for excise collection, pegging it at Rs. 1.33 lakh crore, 31.2 per cent more than last year. “Let me tell you we will reach it (excise target), we will exceed it,” Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) chairman , S Dutt Majumder,said on the sidelines of a function to celebrate Excise Day. He further said that customs and service tax collections have also been robust. In the Budget 2010-11, the government targeted a collection of Rs. 3.15 lakh crore through indirect taxes — from customs, excise and service tax. Customs duty collection has increased by about 68 per cent during April-December 2010-11, from the corresponding period last fiscal. Similarly, the year-on-year growth in excise duty and service tax collections increased by 33 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively. The upward revision in the tax collection target was also due to the 8.9 per cent economic growth during the first half of the current fiscal. The buoyancy in the indirect tax collection during the current fiscal can also be attributed to partial withdrawal of economic stimulus measures in the last Budget. In 2010-11 Budget session, Indian Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, raised excise duty to 10 per cent from 2 per cent as part of a plan to slowly withdraw the incentives given to industry to fight the brunt of the global economic slowdown.
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