Sources in the revenue department said normally, the target for the first nine months of the financial year is set at around 71 per cent, with the balance 29 per cent coming from the last quarter.

The actual collection in the nine month period was over Rs 37,300 crore with Rs 4,570 crore coming in December alone, from which Rs 2,400-odd crore was paid back as drawback, sources added.

However, compared to the figure in the corresponding period of last year, there is a growth of over 10 per cent in the excise collection, sources added. For the current fiscal, the excise duty target has been set at Rs 57,690 crore and customs duty at Rs 48,148 crore.

As per the latest estimates,the west zone which comprises the Mumbai and Vadodara zone collected Rs 16,100 crore, with over Rs 2,000 crore coming in the December alone. The Mumbai zone comprises of Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Goa while the Vadodara zone consists of Vadodara, Raipur, Indore, Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Surat. The Mumbai zone collected Rs 8,470 crore till December 31 with Rs 1160 crore in December alone while the Vadodara zone had a collection figure of over Rs 7,600, with Rs 910 crore in December.

After the West zone, the North zone, which comprises the Delhi and Allahabad zone, had the second largest collection at Rs 9,260 crore with Rs 1,050 crore coming in December alone. The Delhi zone contributed Rs 4740 crore with Rs 545 crore in December while the Allahabad zone collected Rs 4,500 crore till December 31 with Rs 511 crore coming in December alone.

The South zone, comprising of Chennai and Hyderabad zones, collected Rs 9,060 crore with Rs 1120 crore being collected in December alone. The Hyderabad zone, whichconsists of Hyderabad, Bangalore, Visakapatnam, Guntur and Belgaum contributed Rs 5,100 crore with Rs 630 crore coming in December while the Chennai zone, which comprises Chennai, Cochin, Madurai, Coimbatore and Trichy collected Rs 3,890 crore with Rs 495 crore in December alone. The East zone which consists of Calcutta, Shillong, Bhubaneshwar and Bolpur collected Rs 2,800 crore with Rs 300 crore coming in December. For 1997-98 fiscal, the excise duty target had been fixed at Rs 52,200 crore.