The customs office at Sirsiya Dry Port, which had fallen short of the revenue target for the month of Baisakh (mid-April to mid-May), has met the target for Jestha five days ahead of the mid-June. The customs office, set the revenue target of Rs2.54 billion for the month starting mid-May, collected Rs2.55 billion by Sunday. The office expects to collect an additional Rs150 million in the remaining five days.

Surya Sedhai, chief of customs office at the dry port, said the increase in imports of automobiles, liquors and energy drinks, among others, contributed to the surge in revenue collection.

The office fell short of the revenue target by around 11 percent in Baisakh. Out of the target of Rs2.54 billion set by the Finance Ministry, the customs office at the dry port collected only Rs2.26 billion. The office witnessed the drop in revenue collection that month after the importers chose Biratnagar customs office to import raw materials for the iron rod industry, according to Sedhai.

While the imports of iron through customs point at Sirsiya port remain low, the surge in imports of automobile, liquor and energy drinks boosted the revenue collection.

The customs office at the dry port, set a target of Rs28.29 billion for the current fiscal year, has witnessed fluctuations in revenue collection. It had collected Rs2.58 billion in the month starting mid-March, 2 percent more than the target.

The customs point will have to collect Rs5 billion in the last month (mid-June to mid-July) of the current fiscal year to meet the annual revenue target of Rs28.29 billion set by the Finance Ministry.

The revenue collection at the customs point was hit in the last monsoon when various railway lines and roads in India leading to the Sirsiya port were washed away by the massive flooding. Besides, the delay in movement of Nepal-bound containers due to traffic congestion at the Kolkata port is affecting the revenue collection of the customs point.