New Delhi: After direct taxes, Finance Ministry proposes to outsource some of the activities in excise and customs departments and find innovative methods to boost revenue collection to Rs 1,65,000 crore this fiscal.

"We have to collect Rs 1,65,000 crore in excise and customs. We are looking at innovative ways and outsourcing of some activities," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after his meeting with Commissioners of excise and customs in New Delhi today (July 27, 2004).

The ministry had started outsourcing of certain direct tax activities like issue of PAN (Permanent Account Number) cards by UTI-ISL and NSDL last year. It was also thinking of assigning the jobs of scrutiny of accounts by independent chartered accountants.

The ministry was also looking at certain legislative measures to tone up indirect tax administration, Chidambaram said without giving details.

The Finance Minister also gave a patient hearing to the Commissioners on problems faced by the department in some circles and identified certain issues, which were mostly at the operational level.

"We need funds for some activities and funds for infrastructure," he said. He asked revenue officials to recommend further steps to increase revenue. "Revenue is the heart of Finance Ministry. Unless we raise revenue, we can't fund development projects," he said.

Excise Duties have been budgeted at Rs 1,09,199 crore during this fiscal compared to Rs 92,379 crore in last fiscal, while Customs duties has been estimated at Rs 54,250 crore in 2004-05 compared to Rs 49,350 crore last fiscal.