Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Excise department has collected Rs 8,967.49 crore towards excise revenue including VAT in the financial year 2022-23 against Rs 7,622.41 crore in 2021-22 showing a growth of 17.65 per cent.
An amount of Rs 5,400.21 crore was collected in the year 2020-21 as per the annual review meeting held here Saturday chaired by Excise Commissioner Ashish Kumar Singh.
An official source here said that the excise department has switched over to the digital workplace e-Abkari with the technical support of NIC by developing and implementing about fifty online modules as of date to bring transparent, hassle-free, timely service delivery.
The department gave top priority to enforcement activities for which the detection of cases and arrest of bootleggers have increased substantially in the financial year 2022-23.
A record number of 61,377 cases have been detected in the financial year 2022-23 against that of 40,598 cases in 2021-22, showing an increase of 51 per cent. In the year 2020-21, only 25,065 cases were detected, said the source.
In the financial year 2022-23 record number of 49,211 persons have been arrested against 33,551 persons in 2021-22, showing an increase of 47 per cent from that of 2021- 22. In the year 2020-21 only 19,239 persons were arrested, the official source said.
A record number of 1,949 cases have been detected under NDPS Act in 2022-23 against that 748 cases in 2021-22, showing an increase of 161 per cent from that of 2021-22. In the year 2020-21, only 396 cases were detected under NDPS Act, added the source.
In 2022-23 record number of 2,232 persons have been arrested under NDPS Act against 849 persons in 2021-22, showing an increase of 163 per cent from that of 2021-22. In the year 2020-21, only 381 persons were arrested, informed the source.
Similarly, in 2022-23, a record quantity of 32,512 grams of heroin have been seized against 12,567 grams in 2021-22, showing an increase of 159 per cent from that of 2021-22. In the year 2020-21, only 3,654 grams of heroin was seized, said the source.
The source further added that in the financial year 2022-23, ganja weighing 41,330 kilograms has been seized against 31,566 kilograms in 2021-22, showing an increase of 30 per cent from that of 2021-22. In the year 2020-21, only 16,962 kilograms of ganja were seized.
The Excise Commissioner also reviewed the data digitization, implementation of IT, non-settlement of shops, arrear revenue collection, compliance of petitions and instructed all Superintendents of Excise & EI EB Units to strengthen & enhance the enforcement measures for the year 2023-24 as well as to conduct frequent raids against the illegal manufacturing, distribution and sale of ID Liquor/ duplicate IMFL / Non-duty paid IMFL / NDPS items in the State.
Further, the Superintendent of Excise, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Bargarh and Sundargarh was directed to conduct sustained raids in Jharsuguda and adjacent areas on account of the by-election in Jharsuguda assembly constituency.
UNI
