Salt makers to pay extra for use of non-agriculture land in Gujarat
Updated: Apr 16, 2013 02:23:08pm
The decision to collect the non-agriculture land use (NA) tax by the state revenue department has disappointed the salt manufacturers of the state.
Gujarat alone manufactures more than 75 per cent of the country’s salt.
A majority of Gujarat's salt makers are micro, small and medium enterprises (msmes).
They say that this additional tax at the rate of 10 paise per sq mt would double the tax burden of salt makers.
According to a media report, the Indian Salt Manufacturers' Association (ISMA) has appealed to state Revenue Minister Anandi Patel and Salt Industries Minister Saurabh Patel, demanding that the government rethink their decision of additional land use tax.
They are hopeful that the government will agree. "Land allotted for salt production is generally waste land or un-surveyed land. It was never agriculture land. Thus, non-agriculture land use tax is not applicable to this land," said ISMA President P N Rao to a newspaper.
"At present, tax per hectare, including land lease and other local taxes, varies between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,600, depending on the region. If this new NA tax is imposed, it will double the tax per hectare," he added. (KNN)