Worried about the rather poor performance on the export front in the current fiscal so far, Hegde was emphatic that several decisions taken by the revenue department, particularly those relating to levy of excise on raw materials vis-a-vis finished goods, were "illogical".

Hegde was taking a cue from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's criticism of bureaucracy which he said was still attuned to the British Raj at the export award function in the capital recently.

What prompted the commerce minister to question the wisdom of the revenue department's decisions was the higher rates of excise duty charged by it on raw materials vis-a-vis those on finished goods both of which had a greatbearing on export.

Continuing his broadside on the finance ministry, Hegde made it abundantly clear that "earning revenue" is as important for running the government as earning foreign exchange. He said, "The revenue department and the finance minister should not think that only revenue earning is their responsibility.