Calcutta, Aug. 1: The Bengal government has sounded out the Centre on a proposal to increase tax on soft drinks bottling plants and mineral water producers so that the state’s civic bodies can raise revenue without levying water tax.
The plan to impose more tax on the bottling plants, both domestic and multinational, was mooted following pressure from the Centre on the Mamata Banerjee government to impose water tax in Calcutta and other municipal areas.
The Centre has been sitting on funds for the Calcutta Municipal Corporation under the urban renewal mission to nudge the civic body to step up resource mobilisation.
Bengal urban development and municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim had made the new proposal to his central counterpart Kamal Nath and his deputy from Trinamul, Saugata Roy, during his visit to Delhi last week, government sources said today. Hakim confirmed the move but said a formal decision would be taken only after approval from chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
“I have told Kamal Nathji we can’t levy water tax as the JNNURM (the urban renewal mission) had proposed. But civic bodies can increase their income by levying tax on the bottling plants. He said we may try it,’’ Hakim said.
According to Hakim, the proposed tax increase on the bottling plants would fetch around Rs 200 crore, which would be much more than what water tax can fetch.
According to Hakim, only around Rs 15 crore can be collected a year from water-users in slums in the city in addition to tax levied on commercial water-users, including bottling plants.
Under the new plan, the bottling plants will be asked to take water from government-run plants located in and around greater Calcutta as well as upcoming projects in towns. The government will help the bottling plants relocate or purchase plots for new ones close to the water treatment facilities.
Apart from the revenue-generating potential, the minister felt that the proposal would help stop indiscriminate ground-water extraction by the bottling plants at the cost of agriculture and environment.
“We have reports that ponds have dried up and pumps no more lift enough water for cultivation following indiscriminate ground water extraction by the Pepsi bottling plant in Narendrapur in the south suburbs. Arsenic contamination has increased in many other places because of this kind of reckless practice,” Hakim said.
A Pepsi official said the bottling plant was not owned by the company but by a franchisee. “It is not possible for us to comment,” the official said.
Hakim said the Centre was not insistent on compliance of its conditions, including water tax, to clear the bottlenecks in funds flow.
But the state government seems to have preferred to keep the Centre in good humour by desisting from a blanket rejection. “We have written a letter to the Union ministry saying that the state government is in the process of abiding the clauses of JNNURM,’’ the minister said.
This assurance was apparently needed to prod the Centre to release Rs 900 crore in phases for already sanctioned projects and extending the deadline of some schemes by two years. Hakim has submitted fresh proposals entailing investments of Rs 784 crore for water works and urban development in the state.
“Saugatada has taken the initiative to get the funds released for the CMC projects. Municipal commissioner Arnab Roy was part of my delegation to Delhi,’’ Hakim said.
No comments:
Post a Comment