Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated ‘Kendriya GST Parisar’, a residential project for officers and staff of CGST Mumbai Zone under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), at Kharghar, Navi Mumbai on September 14.
The Finance Minister ceremonially handed over the keys to the first five allottees, who are officers of different ranks and cadres of the CBIC. Union Minister of State Finance Pankaj Chaudhary was also present on the occasion. Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj, CBIC Chairman Vivek Johri, Member (Administration) of CBIC Sungita Sharma, Principal Chief Commissioner CGST Mumbai Zone Shri Ashok Kumar Mehta and other senior officers from CBIC and officers and staff from CGST Mumbai Zone Mumbai zone were present amongst the dignitaries.
Kendriya GST Parisar is a spacious residential project with well thought layout and located at one of the most preferred locations In Navi Mumbai. The project sits at a crossroads of connectivity to major avenues of Mumbai and Pune and has quick and easy access to hospitals and Educational Institutes. The inauguration of project in Amrit Kaal during the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav showcases the strength of New India.
The Revenue Secretary informed that another housing project of CBIC is coming up at Wadala in Mumbai. It is a huge project on a 40 acres plot. In the first phase 770-780 flats and one office tower will be constructed. This will be followed by construction of around 4000 residential units along with two office towers in the next phase.
Chairman CBIC Vivek Johri said 7% of GDP and 40% of foreign Trade is contributed by Mumbai. Mumbai Customs Zone give 25% and Mumbai CGST 18% of GST revenue in Country whereas 14% workforce of CBIC is in Mumbai itself. In order to meet the aspirations of staff and officers of Mumbai, second phase of 160 flats in the Kharghar would be constructed soon.
The Principal Chief Commssioner of CGST Mumbai Zone Ashok Kumar Mehta informed that CGST Mumbai Zone, the highest revenue collecting zone in the country, had collected more than INR 1,18,000 crores in the last fiscal. INR 11,000 crore of tax evasion was detected by the zone in last 12 months, he added.
Addressing the gathering, Finance Minister expressed special appreciation to former Chairman of CBIC and his team for taking up the project and getting it cleared and executed. Sitharaman said that it gives her immense satisfaction to be in places where projects for welfare of Finance Ministry’s field formations are taken up and completed. Noting that the project has been completed in record time and cost by the public sector organization NBCC even during the pandemic, Finance Minister said that, “it is exemplary and proves that government organisations can excel and compete with the private sector as well”. In this context, she said that Government and Quasi-Government organizations had in earlier times been looked at with a sense of uncertainty. “Today is a rare occasion when a project is completed within time and cost, without compromising quality and keeping the future in mind”, said the Finance Minister.
Speaking about the achievements of CBIC, the Finance Minister said, “You keep doing good work, generating revenues, you are noticed for it, PM made a special appreciative mention recently on level of GST revenues”. The Finance Minister also spoke about the need for training CBIC officials for better utilization of Artificial Intelligence, Data-analytics, IoT and other technologies to identify fraudulent practices, such as detection of tax evasion.
The FM was appreciative of the Central Intelligence Unit team of CGST Mumbai Zone for fantastic data analysis and mining tools used for large scale tax evasion resulting in big recovery and booking of offenders. He also lauded the effort of the department to take care of future needs and development required for the second phase for welfare of officers and staff.
Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary appreciated the team that implemented the project for completion of the work at a cost of INR 100 crores, which is less than the allocated project cost of INR 110 crores. He also lauded the effort of the department to take care of future needs and development required for the second phase for welfare of officers and staff.
Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said, it is very important to take care of the tax officers, especially in terms of their accommodation, if good productivity is to be expected from them. In this context, there has been emphasis for the last year and a half to clear all such projects, he added.
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