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Punjab decides to abolish Octroi

Staff Correspondent

State to import 600 metric tonnes of pulses, says Chief Minister

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday announced a Rs. 750-crore relief package which includes abolition of octroi charges and waiver of tariff for supply of drinking water and sewerage connections to dwelling units measuring five marlas or less.

The State has also decided to import 600 metric tonnes of pulses, which would be supplied through the public distribution system (PDS) at subsidised rates. These announcements were made by Capt. Singh after chairing a meeting of the Council of Ministers which, apart from taking other decisions, was unanimous in giving its consent to the ambitious Rs. 5,000-crore "farm to fork'' project proposed by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Capt. Singh said the levy of octroi would stand abolished on all goods except electricity, liquor and petroleum products from September 1, 2006, onward. Though the decision would amount to a direct loss of about Rs. 550 crores to the municipal agencies, the present Government had fulfilled yet another poll promise, he added.

The Chief Minister said that unlike the previous Akali-BJP Government, the present announcement was backed by a proper provision to offset the revenue losses of the municipal bodies through a dedicated "Municipal Development Fund'' which would be managed by the Department of Local Government. This fund would be serviced from the proceeds of Value Added Tax (VAT), which are expected to exceed Rs. 5,500 crores against a target of Rs. 4,650 crores. The Chief Minister said the decision to abolish water and sewerage charges payable by owners of residential houses up to 5 marlas in all municipal towns would involve a loss of Rs. 195 crores. This relief would be implemented with immediate effect.

Capt. Singh said that in order to arrest the spiralling prices, the Punjab Government would supplement the efforts of the Union Government and import 600 metric tonnes of pulses like moong and arhar through its public sector undertakings like the PUNSUP and MARKFED. These would be supplied to the people through the PDS.

The Council of Ministers has also decided to issue non-tradable but redeemable capital subsidy bonds to all those industrialists whose claims worth Rs. 500 crore were pending with the Department of Industries. The State Government had not been able to implement its earlier decision to issue "tradable bonds" as the Union Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India did not agree.

Capt. Singh said the Council of Ministers approved the Rs. 5,000-crore "farm to fork'' project of RIL, which proposes to set up 50 Rural Business Hubs (RBHs), 300 satellite RBHs, 20 agricultural processing units, 33 hyper markets and outlets. The first set of six hubs, with an investment of Rs. 500 crores, would come become operational by October this year. The State Government would not give any land free of cost to RIL, Capt. Singh said, adding that every allocation to the company would be effected after realisation of full costs including future enhancements.

The Government land at Laddowal in Ludhiana and panchayat lands across the State would be handed over to RIL on an annual lease of Rs. 16,000 per acre with an escalation of 10 per cent every five years.

About the controversial 20-acre plot owned by the Punjab Mandi Board, which had previously proposed a vegetable market at Mohali, the Chief Minister said a "Swiss Challenge" would be organised so that a price commensurate with the market price was determined and realised.

However, he stressed that for every piece of land which RIL received as concession or rented through lease, the possession would be project-specific.

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Punjab decides to abolish Octroi

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