The Hindu : Front Page : Excise shocker for State’s luxury train Golden Chariot

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 15, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

Excise shocker for State’s luxury train Golden Chariot

Sharath S. Srivatsa

Central Excise Department levies duty of Rs. 3.27 crore

First commercial run scheduled for March 3
Bookings are expected to open
in a few days

— Photo: K. Pichumani

Waiting to roll out: The Golden Chariot at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai.

BANGALORE: It seems the Central Excise Department has used different parameters for slapping excise duty on luxury trains in India.

Even as Rajasthan’s luxury train, Palace on Wheels, and Maharasthra’s, Deccan Odyssey, were allowed to roll out of the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) at Chennai without the excise duty on the coaches, the department has insisted that Karnataka pay the duty for the Golden Chariot.

In effect, the much-awaited Karnataka’s luxury train will prove more expensive than expected, and could even cause delay in its commercial launch.

The Commissioner of Central Excise has asked the ICF, where the coaches are being built, to pay excise duty of around Rs. 3.27 crore, which includes Rs. 1.52 crore imposed on bare shells (coaches).

It is also learnt that the Excise Department has treated the transfer of coaches to State Government as a sale. Manufacture of bare shells at ICF has cost around Rs. 10 crore.

“We are against the excise duty being imposed on coaches of Golden Chariot as a similar duty was not imposed on Palace on Wheels and Deccan Odyssey. We feel this is a discrimination against the State,” Information and Tourism Secretary I.M. Vittalamurthy told The Hindu.

He said: “In fact, Chief Secretary P.B. Mahishi has written to the Railway Board Chairman K.C. Jena as well as the Central Excise officials to sort out the matter, while Governor Rameshwar Thakur is expected to take up the issue with higher authorities in the Union Government.”

The first commercial run of Golden Chariot has been scheduled for March 3, while the trial runs are expected to commence from January 22. Bookings for the train are expected to open in a few days.

Ready to pay

Sources in Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) said that the corporation was ready to pay excise duty on the expenses incurred on the interiors of the train.

“Though the project is a joint venture of Indian Railways and the State Government, the Central Excise Department is treating the handing over of the coach as a sale,” sources said. “Despite the fact that the Railway authorities have claimed ownership of the coaches and the fact that it is a joint venture, the excise notice has been sent to the ICF by citing an operational clause,” sources said.

However, KSTDC sources exuded confidence that the train would arrive in Bangalore within a week’s time, as there was also a provision to give an undertaking to the Central Excise Department stating that they would pay the remaining amount if the need arose.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page