KARACHI, July 2: The Collectorate of Customs, Sales Tax and Central Excise, Hyderabad has surpassed the revenue target of Rs14.529 billion by Rs3.116 billion collecting Rs17.645 billion for 2004-05, official sources said.

As per the break up of revenue collection figures, the Collectorate of Hyderabad which covers entire province of Sindh except Karachi, has collected Rs2.587 billion on account of customs duty, Rs4.423 billion sales tax (domestic), Rs7.680 billion central excise duty and Rs2.955 billion sales tax on imports.

The revenue target was surpassed despite the fact that there was no expansion in the industrial base in the jurisdiction of the collectorate and one of the major items of revenue i.e. sugar suffered production loss. As per official figures issued by the Agriculture Department, Sindh, the production of sugarcane remained 27 per cent lower as compared to the last season.

The surpassing of the target is a clear indication of the fact that the liberal policies of present government, positive attitude of taxpayers and sincere efforts of officers and staff of Hyderabad Customs Collectorate made this daunting task not only possible but exceeded it with a big margin.