Date:20/01/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/01/20/stories/2005012000841900.htm

Back Kerala announces tax relief for fertiliser units

Our Bureau

The State Cabinet has also decided to set up a Food Research Institute with Central assistance at Konni.

Thiruvananthapuram , Jan. 19

THE State Government has decided to reduce sales tax on low sulphur heavy stock (LSHS) used by public sector fertiliser-manufacturing units from 17 to 4 per cent.

The Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, told reporters after the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday that the Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) had been demanding the lowering of the tax on LSHS. The decision will help the company overcome its financial problems to a great extent.

The Cabinet also decided to set up a Food Research Institute with Central assistance at Konni in Pathanamthitta district at an outlay of Rs 95.33 crore. The State Government will give 100 acres for the purpose.

The Government will set up a Council for Food Research, with the Chief Minister as the President, to implement the project. The Food Minister will be the Executive Vice-President of the council. The institute would help catalyse investments in the food-processing sector in the State, Mr Chandy noted.

Another Cabinet decision pertains to the formation of a ministerial panel to study and submit a report on how to use 55 cents of land owned by the State Government in Chennai. The panel includes Ministers for Finance, Public Works and Tourism.

He said that the rehabilitation work of the tsunami-affected people in the State was progressing well. The Government has sanctioned Rs 13. 85 crore to the Kerala State Co-operative Federation for Fisheries Development (Matsyafed) for distributing fishing boats and nets to those who lost them in the tsunami attack.

The Cabinet reviewed the progress of the relief and rehabilitation process and decided to speed up the activities. The construction of houses will start from Thursday and the Government hopes to complete the work in three months.

The rehabilitation programme covers the construction of more than 4,000 new houses and major repair works for 2,000 houses. Besides, free ration has already been extended to 3.52 lakh families.

The Chief Minister said that the Cabinet had decided to approach the Vigilance Court to drop the long-standing palmolein import case involving the former chief minister, Mr K. Karunakaran, and seven others.

He said that he was the finance minister during the time and he felt there was nothing wrong with the import. In fact, the import deal had resulted in a profit of Rs 9 crore to the Government. He also made it clear that nobody approached him for dropping the case.

In a reply to a question, Mr Chandy said the confirmed projects and those in the pipeline, which were proposed at the global investors meet in Kochi a couple of years ago, worked out to a total investment of Rs 43,198 crore. The Government hoped that out of this, an investment of about Rs 30,000 crore would materialise, he added.