Revenue mobilisation from central excise in the northern region has registered a fall with collections dropping 47 per cent to Rs 383 crore in the first nine months of current fiscal till December 2009.

Customs revenues from the region too have fallen 28 per cent at Rs 429.07 crore in the same period.

The total collections of central excise from the northern region comprising Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh plummeted to Rs 383 crore as on December 2009 compared with Rs 723.39 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Similarly, customs collection dipped to Rs 429.07 crore up to December 2009 against Rs 593.65 crore mobilised in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Meanwhile, the Income Tax department grossed Rs 8,339 crore during the period starting April 1, 2009, till January 11, 2010, against Rs 7,261.30 crore in the same period last fiscal, an official said.

The revival of manufacturing, mainly in the automobile sector led to growth in tax collections, said an income tax official.

Because of a huge fall in collections from excise duty, it now seems difficult for the department to achieve its targeted revenue of Rs 915 crore by the end of the current fiscal, an official revealed.