Indirect tax collection up 3.3 in April

The decline in excise duty collection is being attributed to the fact that companies could not take Cenvat credit during the last fiscal given the tight fiscal situation of the government. Officials did not allow companies to take the credit,this helped the government meet its revenue collection target for 2012-13.

In April,the tax department allowed companies to avail of the credit thus reducing the overall excise collection.

Excise duty collection stood at Rs 9,889 crore for the period as against Rs 11,590 crore during the corresponding period of the previous year. The asking rate for the excise duty collection is 10.9 per cent. The government aims to garner Rs 1,95,937 crore from this head during the current fiscal. Excise duty collection stood at Rs 1,76,638 crore during 2012-13.