The West Bengal Government on Saturday approved a plan to re-structure the Excise Department and the Directorate of Registration and Stamp Revenue . The decision is expected to help the State Government earn an additional revenue of nearly Rs 700 crore a year.

According to State Finance Minister Amit Mitra, the re-organisation of the two departments will be carried out at a cost of over Rs 6 crore and will help in preventing stamp duty evasion and plugging leakages in revenue collection. We are hoping to increase our revenue through the restructuring of these departments. Compared to the amount that we are spending, our earnings would be much higher. Re-organisation work will begin immediately, Mitra told reporters after the matter was cleared by the Bengal Cabinet here on Saturday.

EXCISE RE-STRUCTURING

According to Mitra, the number of excise districts will be increased from 21 to 24, excise ranges from 65 to 87 and the excise circles will go up from 159 to 213.

A centralised computer cell of the department will be set up to analyse data obtained from various parts of the State.

Re-structuring the department will come at a cost of nearly Rs 2.70 crore while revenue collection is expected to get a leg-up by Rs 300 crore.

Similar re-structuring, Mitra said, will be carried out in the Directorate of Registration and Stamp Revenue.

Bifurcation of 15 large registration offices each of which handle more than 10,000 applicants on a daily basis to facilitate faster processing of applications and setting up of an inspection wing in the Presidency, Burdwan and Jalpaiguri divisions, would be the two major reforms.

A centralised computer enabled Research and Analysis Centre (eRAC) will be set up to ensure online registration of property.

Around Rs 3.5 crore will be incurred towards re-structuring the department and it is likely to boost the States revenue by Rs 400 crore.