Collections from customs dropped by as much as 11.6 per cent in October to Rs 11,357 crore from Rs 12,849 crore in the same month last fiscal, Finance Ministry sources said.
In case of central excise, collection during October was Rs 10,527 crore, down 5.3 per cent from Rs 11,120 crore in the same period last fiscal.

The decline in the total indirect tax collection would have been much sharper but for the 18.4 per cent growth in realisation from service tax. The service tax collection during the month rose to Rs 8,394 crore from Rs 7,089 crore in October 2010.

The total indirect tax collection during October declined by 2.5 per cent to Rs 30,278 crore from Rs 31,058 crore in the corresponding month last fiscal. However, as far as April-October period is concerned, the indirect tax collection showed an increase of 17.8 per cent to Rs 2.01 lakh crore from Rs 1.70 lakh crore during the corresponding period in the last financial year.

The increase during the first seven months of the current fiscal was on account of higher collections from customs, central excise and service tax which rose by 16.6 per cent, 10.6 per cent and 33.6 per cent respectively. During April-October customs collection was Rs 86,156 crore (up from Rs 73,895 crore during the corresponding period of last fiscal), central excise Rs 69,511 crore (Rs 62,838 crore) and service tax Rs 45,391 crore (Rs 33,977 crore).

The decline in indirect tax collection during the later part of the financial year can be attributed to poor performance of the industrial sector and also the decision of the government to reduce duties on petroleum goods to partly offset the impact of price hike on consumers.