Date:20/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/20/stories/2008032059331300.htm

National

No fresh tax, sops aplenty in Maharashtra budget

Arunkumar Bhatt

Drastic cut in ST on aviation fuel except in Mumbai, Pune

Vacant land will attract tax, Bill coming
Rs. 100 crore for ‘minority development department’

MUMBAI: There is no fresh tax but there are a number of sops and steps appealing to all sections in the Maharashtra budget presented by Finance Minister Jayant Patil on Wednesday. His third consecutive, revenue-surplus budget showed that the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party-led Democratic Front is preparing for the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections due next year.

To encourage civil aviation in interior Maharashtra, Mr. Patil announced a sharp reduction in sales tax on aviation turbine fuel, from 25 to just four per cent, purchased at places other than Mumbai and Pune.

He reduced the tax on imported timber from 12.5 to four per cent, passenger tax on the State transport from 17.5 to 5.5 per cent and abolished duty on mortgage deeds on crop loans.

A Bill would be introduced to impose tax on vacant land in the cities as the Urban Land Ceiling Act was abolished.

The vacant land would attract tax if the owner, after obtaining permission, failed to do the construction within the stipulated time.

Irrigation

Maharashtra would bring 1.5 lakh hectares under irrigation by spending Rs. 5,507 crore during the year. The State had an allocation of Rs. 5,410 crore in the previous budget.

Mr. Patil also proposed to spend Rs. 400 crore on a hydro-electric project.

The budget provided for Rs. 204 crore for interest subsidy for certain categories of farm loans and Rs. 111.5 crore for ‘recapitalising’ the cooperative credit structure as recommended by Prof. Vaidyanathan Committee.

Housing scheme

The State would build one million houses under various schemes in the next two years for low-income and middle-income groups.

It would raise resources for the programme by levying 25 per cent premium on developers undertaking slum redevelopment schemes and through grant of permission for additional construction in old buildings built by a State board.

Maharashtra had set up a ‘minority development department’ as recommended by the Sachar Committee. Mr. Patil provided a Rs. 100-crore outlay for the department and raised the share capital of the Maulana Azad Alpsankhyank Arthik Vikas Mahamandal, which gives financial assistance to Muslims, to Rs. 50 crore.

The government would provide Rs. 5.04 crore for construction of the Haj House at Nagpur, in addition to Rs. 4 crore granted already.