The Centre's indirect tax collections rose 12 per cent during April-November 2004 to Rs 102,553 crore (Rs 1025.53 billion) from Rs 91,790 crore (Rs 917.90 billion) during the corresponding period last year, according to official data released on Tuesday.

According to finance ministry officials, direct tax collection during the eight-month period was Rs 56,707 crore (Rs 567.07 billion), a 33.3 per cent increase over the Rs 42,538 crore (Rs 425.38 billin) collected during the same period last year.

Customs duty collections also rose 12 per cent to Rs 35,720 crore (Rs 357.20 billion) during the same period, as against Rs 31,864 crore (Rs 318.64 billion) during the corresponding period last year, an official release said.

The collection of excise duty during the period was estimated at Rs 59,819 crore (Rs 598.19 billion), compared to Rs 55,605 crore (Rs 556.05 billion) during April-November 2003, representing an increase of 7.58 per cent.

Service tax collection during April-November this year increased by 62.31 per cent over the preceding fiscal year.

Income tax collected in the eight months since April was Rs 25,817 crore (Rs 258.17 billion) compared with Rs 20,586 crore (Rs 205.86 billion) during the corresponding period in 2003-04.

Corporate tax collections were higher at Rs 30,889 crore (Rs 308.89 billion) as against Rs 21,951 crore (Rs 219.51 billion) in the previous year.

During October and November, the central excise department organised special camps for on-the-spot registration of service providers, where over 143,000 registered.

The release said the Centre also recovered Rs 167.63 crore (Rs 1.68 billion) as Customs duty from unscrupulous importers and show-cause notices demanding duty of Rs 745.24 crore (Rs 7.45 billion) had been issued.