DRI unearths scam in chemicals import

In one of its biggest operations conducted in the recent past, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized industrial chemical containers worth over Rs100 crore across the country for alleged duty evasion.

DRI officials said the crackdown was initiated in early October following detection of large-scale under-invoicing of chemical imports, especially those from Southeast Asia. They said maximum seizures — of over 150 containers — were made in Mumbai. “Some containers, though not seized, have not been released,” a senior DRI official said.

Sources said some of the containers belong to top chemical importing firms and traders. They claimed that chemicals worth crores of rupees were being imported, but the invoices stated that the goods were worth only a few lakhs. “In some cases we found that the importers had opened dummy offices and sent across fake bills from southeast Asian countries from where the chemicals were being imported,” an official said.

Sources said most of imports were from China, Singapore and Thailand. “During routine scrutiny checks, we found that while several big chemical firms were importing chemicals at a higher rate, many export and import firms were bringing the same at very low rates. At times, the difference between the two was over 70 %,” an official said.
Based on this discovery, the agency first gathered intelligence on duty evading firms, and their corresponding companies abroad before initiating the seizure action.