Correct Answer :   Andhra Pradesh

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the new campus of National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics (NACIN) at Palasamudram, Sri Sathya Sai District in Andhra Pradesh on 16th Jan 2024.

He also took a walkthrough of the exhibition showcased on the occasion. The Prime Minister also interacted with Officer Trainees of the 74th and 75th batches of the Indian Revenue Service (Custom & Indirect Taxes) as well as officer trainees of the Royal Civil Service of Bhutan.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister congratulated everyone for the inauguration of the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics at Palasamudram.  He expressed confidence that the new campus of NACIN will create new dimensions of good governance and give a boost to trade and industry in the nation.

Further elaborating this PM Modi talked about the tax reforms in the last 10 years. He recalled multiple, non-transparent tax systems of earlier times. “We gave the country a modern system in the form of GST and simplified income tax and introduced faceless assessment. All these reforms have resulted in record tax collection”, the Prime Minister said. ‘We are returning people’s money through various schemes’, he added. He informed that the IT exemption limit was raised from the income of 2 lakh to 7 lakh rupees. Tax reforms after 2014 have resulted in tax savings of about 2.5 lakh crore rupees for the citizens. He said that the number of taxpayers is consistently increasing in the country as they feel happy that their tax money is put to good use.

He concluded by asking the officers to realize their role in nation-building and called for collective efforts to increase the country's income, and investment and enhance ease of doing business.

Governor of Andhra Pradesh, Shri S. Abdul Nazeer; Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman; Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy; and Chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Shri Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, were present on the occasion among others.

Thanking the Prime Minister for a World Class Institute and a World Class Academy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Shri Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, in his address on the occasion, said, “It is indeed a privilege to participate in the inaugural event of the 2nd NACIN Academy. It is a preeminent institution that enables comprehensive training and capacity building in the fields of customs, indirect taxes, and narcotics control. For officers representing various entities such as CBIC, Narcotics Control Bureau and so forth.”

Speaking on the occasion, Union Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman said that, “This is an Institute of National Importance where the Indian Revenue Service officials will get their training like how the IAS officers get their training in LBSNAA (Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration) and IPS officers get their training at SVPNPA (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy). This is recognised by World Customs Organisation and is capable of training officers from South East Asian countries also. I would like to thank Shri Narendra Modi ji for gracing the occasion.  I extend my sincere gratitude to the State Government for providing 500 acres of land for this purpose.”

Welcoming the Prime Minister on the occasion, Shri Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Chairperson, CBIC, in his address, said, “NACIN campus is sprawling across 500 acres of land and will serve as a temple of learning with state-of-art technologies. Despite the vast area and challenging terrain, the buildings of the campus have taken shape at unprecedented pace and the facility has been made ready in short span of 18 months.”

Shri Aggarwal further said, “With international collaborations and a focus on regional capacity building, the Academy is slated to emerge as a pioneer in excellence and professional training.”..

Source : PIB