Falling crude prices to aid economy: FM

The interest rate cycle has been reversed by the RBI and mining sector growth has turned around. Further,there has been progress in fuel linkage for power projects and improvement in investment growth rate,he emphasised.

There were no 8220;major adverse results8221; on corporate performance in the last quarter of 2011-12,he added.

The Finance Minister,however admitted,that government does not have headroom for proactive fiscal policy.

8220;Like for most parts of the world,the second round of global uncertainty and the slowdown has come rather quickly on the heels of the previous one,with practically no headroom for running a proactive fiscal policy,8221; he said.

Indian economy registered healthy growth of 8.4 per cent in 2009-10 and 2010-11,but renewed global uncertainty,emanating mostly from Euro zone area affected domestic business sentiment in 2011-12.

A tight monetary policy directed at taming inflationary pressures in the economy also came in the way of consolidating economic recovery.

GDP growth in 2011-12 has slowed significantly to just 6.5 per cent and this has been 8220;disappointing8221;,Mukherjee said.

Stressing that a strong indirect tax administration was fundamental to the development of a country8217;s economy,Mukherjee asked the officials of Central Board of Excise and Customs CBEC to ensure timely collection to taxes.

8220;The challenges before your department today are multi-faceted8230; The important task before you is to ensure timely collection of all legitimate tax dues,without,of course,unduly burdening the assessee,8221; he said.

He asked them to sharpen their audit skills and conduct scrutiny of assessees8217; records to bring to the kitty any tax that might have escaped assessment and to detect frauds which are often intelligently planned and meticulously executed.

8220;While the need for trade facilitation and tax payers8217; satisfaction cannot be over-emphasised,any mala fide and corrupt practice to evade payment of legitimate dues,needs to be handled as per established procedure of law,8221; he said.

Mukherjee expressed hope the CBEC would be able to meet the indirect tax collection target for 2012-13.

8220;They CBEC have done good job last year8230;I am confident that the department would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the targets for the current year are not only met but handsomely exceeded,Mukherjee said.

With government increasing rates of both excise and service tax by 2 per cent,he said 8220;these changes are likely to help the Department in garnering additional tax revenue8221;.

Indirect tax collections central excise,customs and service tax target for 2012-13 is Rs 4,99,694 crore,up by about 27 per cent over the previous year.

Despite a slowdown in growth and the duty cuts effected on petroleum products in June 2011,the indirect tax collection of Rs 3,92,781 crore excluding cess was only marginally short of the target Rs 3,94,000 crore in 2011-12.

Mukherjee also said there is an urgent need to reverse the declining trend in tax-GDP ratio by augmenting tax collections. The ratio was nearly 12 per cent in 2007-08 but has dropped to around 10.5 per cent in 2011-12.

Mukherjee told CBEC officials that there is a scope for improving tax administration by leveraging technology and facilitating a congenial public interface.

He further said that smuggling of FICN,narcotics and psychotropic substances,illicit export of flora and fauna; antiques and other prohibited goods pose a grave threat to our economy. Commercial frauds perpetuated to evade payment of legitimate duty are another area of growing concern.

8220;To enable you to deal with these concerns effectively the initiatives taken to improve the infrastructural and technological capabilities at your command need to be rapidly implemented,8221; he said.

On capacity building,he said this needs to be accorded a high priority so that 8220;we are able to build a team of dedicated and motivated workforce to respond to the challenges confronting the department8221;.

The issues related to human resource development should be given priority,and necessary steps to promote an administration with a humane face earnestly pursued,he said.

8220;You all at the senior level cannot remain insensitive to the genuine concerns of your workforce,be it the legitimate demand for a timely promotion or holding of DPCs or timely sanction of annual increments,or payment of retirement benefits,8221; Mukherjee said.

The CBEC has constituted four 8216;Breakaway Groups8217; for in depth examination of some of the current issues that need the immediate attention of the department.