Excise duty and service tax evasion of about Rs 362 crore has been detected up to December in the current financial year by the Chennai zonal unit of Central excise department.

"During the current financial year (up to December 2012), the Directorate General Of Central Excise Intelligence, Chennai Zonal Unit has detected central excise duty and service tax evasion to the tune of Rs 362.45 crore," the department said in a statement.

It recovered an amount of Rs 76.88 crore on the spot voluntarily from various evaders, up 17 per cent from Rs 65.49 crore over the same period a year ago.

The department booked cases against manufacturers of iron and steel products who were suppressing production and clandestinely removing their dutiable finished goods without payment of duty, it said.

"Cases where CENVAT (Central Value Added Tax) credit was taken on the basis of bogus invoices which have been obtained from various firms /registered dealers without actually receiving the corresponding goods /raw materials were also detected," it added.

Without mentioning name of a firm, it said clearing and forwarding agents of a reputed watch manufacturer were found altering the maximum retail price on watches, subsequent to their clearance from factory, resulting in evasion of central excise duty.

The Excise department also booked cases of service tax evasion against assessee in airport services, works contract services, banking and financial services, intellectual property services, scientific and technical consultancy, commercial construction, outdoor catering, and commercial coaching, among others.

"There have also been cases against public sector undertakings booked by this Directorate. It was noticed in a lot of cases where significant amount of service tax have been charged and collected by the assesses but same has not been deposited with the government exchequer."

The Directorate also detected excise and duty evasion of Rs 300.63 crore and recovered Rs 100.03 crore on the spot from Ahmedabad Zonal Unit.

"...certain big manufactures of pharmaceutical products have been making payments in foreign exchange abroad for availing various types of services for promotion of their products abroad," it said.