Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Withdrawal of tax on foodgrains sought

By Our Staff Reporter

VIJAYAWADA, APRIL 5. The Andhra Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vijayawada, has demanded that the State Government withdraw the 4 per cent tax being levied on foodgrains to ensure that the cultivators and dal mill owners of the State enjoy a level playing field with those of other States where no such tax is being collected.

The president of the Andhra Chamber, Gokaraju Ganga Raju, and the secretary, M. Murali Krishna, said on Tuesday that many States, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi, were not levying any tax on foodgrains. They pointed out that the absence of tax proved to be advantageous to cultivators of the four States while those of Andhra Pradesh were facing a lot of difficulties.

Deficit production

They said in the VAT Act, the Central Government had given the States the option to levy tax on foodgrains and many of them had not imposed the tax.

"Our State is deficit in production and cultivation of pulses. Accordingly, we are being forced to import some varieties of dal. As a result, the cultivators here are getting less price for their produce when compared to those in other States," they pointed out.

The dal mills situated in Maharashtra and Karnataka were progressing while those in Andhra Pradesh were closing down, Mr. Rajua and Mr. Krishna said. They added that the cultivators in the border districts of the State were taking their produce to the markets of neighbouring States to avoid paying sales tax.

"The business community wants the tax to be removed forthwith. The Hyderabad Dal Mills and Merchants Association has also appealed for removing tax on foodgrains. The Government should take necessary steps immediately to encourage cultivators and dal mill owners," they said.

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