The Central Excise sleuths attached to the Tuticorin Division detected duty evasion to the tune of Rs.2.63 crore during a raid conducted on a Tuticorin-based fertilizer manufacturing company, according to reliable sources.
A team of officials led by Superintendent M. Raja Climax raided the company on specific information, and unearthed the duty evasion, sources told The Hindu here on Tuesday.
Investigations revealed that naphtha, which should be used for petro-chemical industries without duty, was presumably diverted for other purposes. Sources said naphtha meant for fertilizer manufacturing was exempted from excise duty in the interest of farmers.
The team, including Superintendent S.J.S. John Raj, Inspectors Kalidoss and R.E.T. Subbulakshmi, verified the documents on the company premises and the amount of naphtha stored in two oil tanks in the harbour area. The raid which commenced at 10.30 a.m. lasted till evening. By dip reading conducted in the tanks, the sleuths found that only about 5,000 tonnes of naphtha was available instead of the 8,000 tonnes accounted for. The officials registered a case. The company authorities promised to remit Rs.25 lakh as duty immediately, and the rest of the amount soon. Sources said 20 per cent of the duty recovered in this case would be given to the informer as reward.
