Zuari entry tax slashed

Sandesh Prabhudesai
20 January 2001  



Zuari Industries Limited, one of the major Indian company manufacturing chemical fertilisers here, has been granted special concession in the newly introduced entry tax imposed by the Goa government.

Considering the deteriorating financial condition of the ZIL, the state has reduced the entry tax of 10 per cent imposed on import of furnace oil to mere 2.5 per cent. "Otherwise they may close down the industry", fears chief minister Manohar Parrikar.

Entry tax is the concept introduced in Goa recently, in order to fill the loophole and earn revenue on the raw materials imported by the industry in Goa without paying any sales tax. It was however vehemently opposed by the Goan industry.

According to Parrikar, the ZIL has already faced loss of around Rs three to four crore last year since the ammonia-based urea is much cheaper in the world market than the naphtha-based urea it manufactures.

As the ZIL contributes almost 25 per cent sales tax to the tiny state which is around Rs 70 crore, the BJP cabinet thought to waive additional Rs three to four crore they could have earned through the entry tax on imported furnace oil.

Parrikar also disclosed that the ZIL is considering to set up ammonia-based Sampurna project in Zuarinagar in the port town of Vasco here to overcome the world crisis faced by naphtha-based fertiliser units.

The ZIL is one of the handful large scale industries of the tiny tourist state, which has been existing here for the last three decades, providing employment to the thousands of people and contributing immensely to the state treasury.

It had however also become a controversial plant due to pollution it caused to marine life as well as paddy fields around the factory. The plant was even closed down two decades ago by the government following public unrest.

Your Comments Please