West Bengal government to earn Rs 700 crore more from excise, stamp duty departments

KOLKATA: The West Bengal government plans to earn around Rs 700 crore a year more through organisational restructuring of the excise and registration of stamp duties departments, State Finance Minister Amit Mitra said.

After a meeting of the West Bengal cabinet here today, Mitra told reporters that the government has decided to restructure both the excise and registration of stamp duties departments.

He said that restructuring of the excise department was last done in 1968.

Mitra said that cost to the government for reorganising the department would be around Rs 2.70 crore, while income would increase by Rs 300 crore each year.

The revenue from the department is around Rs 2,100 crore. The objective is to create more revenue through preventing evasion of duties and sales of illicit liquor.

Regarding the registration of stamp duty department, the restructuring cost would be Rs 3.5 crore, while extra revenue of Rs 400 crore would accrue to the government.

The purpose behind restructuring the department, last done in 1993, was to expedite the registration process, he said.