Top AAI officials have been questioned by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence’s Delhi zonal unit, which is investigating the matter.
NEW DELHI: The Airports Authority of India has found itself on the DRI radar for evading more than Rs10 crore duty.
Top AAI officials have been questioned by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence’s Delhi zonal unit, which is investigating the matter.
AAI is alleged to have imported radars, airport navigational equipment and VHF equipment wrongfully by claiming exemption under the Foreign Trade Policy’s Served-From-India Scheme.
However, the items imported were in the restricted list of and, thus, liable for duty.
DRI officials are tightlipped. “We can’t reveal much except that we have recorded statements of the AAI officials concerned and they have paid most part of their duty. The matter is under investigation,” said a senior official.
The Served-From-India scheme allows service providers (for services listed under the FTP) to claim a duty exemption on freely importable items (of capital goods including spares, professional equipment, office furniture and consumables related to business) if they have earned a total free foreign exchange of at least Rs10 lakh in the preceding financial year.
The foreign trade policy permits duty exemption of up to 10% of the total foreign exchange earned by such service providers.
DRI’s Delhi unit initiated investigations into the matter on November 21 following intelligence inputs.
The team is learnt to have questioned top AAI employees including the executive director (finance). AAI officials are said to have accepted that duty was evaded, but they claim it was “inadvertent” and there was “no malafide intention”.
The imports were received at the Chennai port in three consignments in September and November and included two surveillance radars, airport navigational equipment and VHF equipment.
The total value of the goods is estimated to be nearly Rs34 crore and the duty liability almost Rs10.5 crore.
The radars, imported for Hyderabad and Bangalore, are estimated to cost Rs13.2 crore each and the duty payable on each is more than Rs4 crore. It is learnt that AAI has already paid up nearly Rs8.15 crore and has told the DRI that they would settle the rest of the duty liability soon.
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