17 September 2011

Customs seize Greek vessel at Alang for under-invoicing:

AHMEDABAD: Suspecting under valuation, Gujarat customs department seized a Greek vessel 'Syros' off Alang coast early on Thursday morning which was brought for salvaging.

The vessel was imported by a Bhavnagar-based company at the Alang shipbreaking yard.

"After seizing the vessel, we found that the importer had under quoted the value of the vessel at Rs 27.36 crore which is less than Rs 2.2 crore than the original price. We have asked the company to pay up Rs 34 lakh differential duty," said a senior Bhavnagar customs department official.

The officials said that the vessel had come from Singapore and the importer has been served notice about the differential duty.

"The importers at Alang shipbreaking yard have to pay around 16% import duty on ships that are brought for breaking. The company in this case has agreed to pay the differential duty. 6 months back we had also seized a vessel in another under quoted value case. The vessel was released after the importer paid the extra duty," the official said.

Source: Times of India. 17 September 2011

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