NEW DELHI: After gold, it's diesel that is increasingly being smuggled into the country. Multiple cases of diesel smuggling from West Asian nations have come to the notice of the finance ministry, and the government has asked Customs and Coast Guard to enhance surveillance along the western coast.
Most of the cases have been detected along Maharashtra and Gujarat coastline. Customs authorities have booked at least seven cases of diesel smuggling — all in Maharashtra — over the last three years.
Four cases were filed in 2009-10 following seizure of diesel consignment valued at Rs 24 lakh. In 2011-12, three more cases were registered, and the value of diesel seized was Rs 115 lakh.
In a written response to the Rajya Sabha, minister of state for finance S S Palanimanickam said on Thursday that no involvement of Customs officials has come to light so far.
In one of the cases, a vessel from the UAE carrying 890 tonnes of diesel had anchored off Mumbai coast. The Colombo-bound vessel, after offloading half of the consignment, sailed for another destination off Gujarat coast and offloaded part of its consignment mid-sea there.
For more than three weeks, the vessel was shuttling between Gujarat and Mumbai coasts before it was apprehended by Coast Guard officials.
Typically, diesel smuggled from Gulf nations are sold to dealers in western Indian states, and comes at a fraction of the cost of legal procurement that involves Customs and other state duties.
The government is grappling with the surge in gold smuggling after it imposed certain curbs to discourage huge imports of yellow metal since it created major current account deficit.
Gold bars and ornaments were diverted from Singapore and Hong Kong to Thailand and then brought to India, using the loopholes in the free trade agreement. Customs authorities have booked several such smuggling cases in recent months.
Customs books seven diesel smuggling cases since 2009
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Customs books seven diesel smuggling cases since 2009
