The State government’s decision to extend the ‘tax holiday’ to sugar mills has triggered protests in the district.
Strongly opposing the government’s move of extending the tax holiday (waive the payment of road cess, purchase tax and VAT) to the mills for three years, members of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) staged a protest demonstration near Sri Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Circle on Bengaluru-Mysuru highway here on Thursday.
The government had succumbed to the powerful sugarcane lobby in Bengaluru on Wednesday by announcing certain relaxations to sugar mills, the KRRS members, who blocked the traffic for a while, said.
Clear dues
KRRS urged the government to take tough measures against the mills for not clearing dues to farmers.
The KRRS members also vehemently opposed the State government’s new payment formula (of clearing payments in instalments). They shouted slogans against H.S. Mahadeva Prasad, Minister for Cooperation and Sugar, and urged him to protect the interests of the cane growers.
