Punjab to scrap 40,000 pending VAT cases

Chief Minister lists a slew of measures to boost trade and industry

The Punjab government said on Wednesday that it would scrap 40,000 pending cases on outstanding Value-Added Tax (VAT), out of the 48,000 cases related to financial years 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 against traders and industrialists.

At the Progressive Punjab Investors Summit in Ludhiana, CM Charanjit Singh Channi said the remainingcases would be settled by asking the traders to deposit just 30% of the tax liability.

Mr. Channi said that this industry-friendly initiative would go a long way in boosting morale to invest in a big way in the State and that the State Government would continue to act as a facilitator.

For better air connectivity to boost economic activity in the region, Mr. Channi said he would lay the foundation stone of the upcoming greenfield airport at Halwara in Ludhiana on November 15. The airport would be completed within a period of eight months, he added.

Listing key initiatives for industrial growth, the Chief Minister said that the Government has allowed faceless assessment of GST and VAT, following which traders and industrialists would not be required to be physically present before taxation officers. Also, institutional tax that was in vogue since 2011 stood abolished in order to promote trade, he said.

Mr. Channi said an amnesty scheme would be introduced for plot-holders of Punjab State Industries Export Corporation (PSIEC). “Fixed charges on electricity connections for medium scale industries have been slashed to 50%. Besides, ₹150 crore will be spent on the upgrade of infrastructure in the industrial focal points in the State,” he said.

The Chief Minister also announced that the State Government would soon simplify the procedure for change of land use to help entrepreneurs and industrialists to set up ventures seamlessly. He said that the entertainment industry would get a major fillip with the setting up of a film city near Chandigarh.

According to an official statement, Chairman of Malhotra group Meenu Malhotra firmed up an investment of ₹1,600 crore in the real estate sector and Vice-Chairman and MD of Vardhman Textiles Suchita Oswal Jain announced her company’s expansion plans worth ₹400 crore in the State. Apart from this, Vice-President of International Tractors Ltd. has A.S. Mittal announced the setting up of another state-of-the-art tractor factory in Punjab, the statement said.