Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
North Block, New Delhi-110 001
Tel. : +91-11-23092849, Fax : +91-11-23092890
E-mail : vivekjohri.irs@gov.in
Chairman
DO.No.07/CH(IC)/2021
Dated: 17th January,2022
It has been a difficult week with the weather in Delhi adding to the bleakness. As the third wave of the pandemic raises its spectre across the country a number of our colleagues, friends and families battle with and overcome the virus. Being at the frontline, our work has to go on but I urge you once again not to lower your guard and observe due precaution.
On the bright side, the week opened with reports of our merchandize exports soaring to an historic high of US $ 301.38 billion in the first three quarters of the current financial year registering a growth of almost 50% over the same period of 2020-21. Merchandise imports have also shown impressive growth of 69% during this period and clocked US $ 443.82 billion. These coupled with good GST revenue collections are encouraging symptoms of heightened economic activity.
Continuing our endeavour to reach out to our partner State GST Administrations, Member (GST) held a meeting on Revenue Augmentation with CGST & SGST officers in Tamil Nadu. Zonal Chief Commissioner, CGST and Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, Tamil Nadu along with their senior officers participated in the meeting. Likewise, Member (Investigations) also held joint meetings of CGST & SGST officers in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and UTs of Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir. Such meetings provide an excellent opportunity for exchanging ideas with our State counterparts for synergizing our efforts in optimizing revenue.
Moving on to anti-evasion, on the basis of spot profiling, a passenger arriving at IGI Airport, Delhi from Ras Al-Khaimah was intercepted while crossing the Green Channel. Examination of his baggage led to the recovery of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) having cumulative face value of Rs. 9,50,000. Given its direct linkages to national security, the impact of such seizures is far greater than the face value of the seizure. Kudos to the officers, more so since this is reported to be a case booked on the basis of spot profiling.
As regards, GST, the Jaipur unit of DGGI achieved a major breakthrough in a case of fake billing/ITC under investigation since October,. 2021. They succeeded in unearthing an entire network of 636 fake firms issuing fake invoices for availment of ITC – run by a syndicate of 5-6 persons using multiple SIMS and phone numbers. They appear to have issued invoices for taxable value of approximately Rs 4500 crore and ITC of about Rs 741 crore. The success achieved in this case is the result of painstaking and meticulous investigation coupled with timely follow up. I congratulate heartily all DGGI officers involved in the investigation 85 wish them many more successes.
On infrastructure, making the occasion of Uttarayan a touch more joyous, administrative approval for acquiring land admeasuring 3100 sq.m from the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority for the office building of DRI, Ahmedabad Zonal Unit was received. The proposed building promises to be a state-of-the-art facility with dedicated space for Forensic Laboratory, Armoury, Lock-up as well as space for a creche and a gym-cum-yoga room. My Congratulations to DG, DRI and DG, HRD and their respective teams for their hard work on the project.
During the week, Ms. Arti Dattathray Patil, from Mumbai Customs, won the Gold Medal in Dhaka Full Marathon, 2022 (42 Km). Congratulations, Arti. You make us all really proud!
I thank all Chief Commissioners for putting together their Action Plans for Q4 2022 under “Project Saadhit”. It is heartening that many of you have shown confidence and resoluteness in setting ambitious goals. Your focus should now shift to galvanizing and motivating your teams to deliver!
Till next week.
Yours Sincerely,
(Vivek Johri)
All Officers and Staff of Central Board of Indirect Taxes 86 Customs
