The zone comprises seven districts in Karnataka — Bangalore urban, rural, Tumkur, Kolar, Chitradurga, Davangere and Haveri.

Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Subhash Chander, Bangalore Central Excise Zone, on Tuesday, said the Department has net in Rs 4,736 crore as Central Excise (CE) duty and Rs 3,125 crore as Service Tax (ST) during the last financial year.

These are, however, provisional figures and a clear picture of the actual duty paid is likely to emerge by the end of this month.

Chander said collection of Central Excise duty has registered a growth of 11 per cent, while Service Tax has gone up by 48 per cent over the previous year. The zonal revenue in Central Excise has grown from Rs 3,621 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 4,736 crore in 2007-08 registering a 31 per cent increase, he said.

Chander said Service Tax collection has gone up from Rs 761 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 3,125 crore in 2007-08 marking a 310 per cent increase. “We hope to realise Rs 5,100 crore in Central Excise and Rs 4,000 crore in Service Tax in 2008-09,” he said.

He said there is an acute shortage of staff in the Department with 350 vacancies for the post of inspectors. We hope that by June end they will be filled up, either through direct recruitment through Staff Selection or promotion,” he added.