New Delhi: Excise and customs duty collection of the central government went up by 9.5 per cent in the first six months of the current fiscal to Rs69,611 crore, against Rs63,576 crore achieved in the same period last year.

Excise collections for the period under review stood at Rs44,463 crore (Rs40,409 crore in April-September 2003) and customs collections during stood at Rs25,148 crore (Rs23,167 crore in April-September 2003).

Commenting on the collection performance, the chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), AK Singh, told press persons that the Board was confident of meeting the customs duty collection target for the current fiscal. The customs duty collections target for 2004-05 has been set at Rs54,250 crore.

He, however, hinted that it might be difficult for the revenue department to achieve the excise duty collection target of Rs1,09,199 crore for 2004-05 on account of the duty cuts in petroleum products and other items.