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Our Bureau

Gandhinagar , Feb. 18

THE Gujarat Government has sought an assurance from the Centre that the value-added tax (VAT) will be implemented simultaneously by all States from April 1. Presenting the annual Budget of the State, the Finance Minister, Mr Vajubhai Vala, said that Gujarat was among the first to pass the necessary legislation to implement VAT.

In fact, the Gujarat VAT Act would need certain amendments to bring it in line with "common points of convergence" agreed upon by the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers and a White Paper prepared by the State Government recently, Mr Vala said.

The State's annual budget for 2005-06 projects an overall surplus of Rs 87 crore. But, the Finance Minister has simultaneously given away several tax concessions to power consumers. The overall deficit projected by the Budget, after accounting for the tax relief of Rs 229 crore to power consumers, has been put at Rs 142 crore.

Gujarat's power consumers, who pay among the highest tariffs in the country, can look forward to some relief in terms of electricity duty. The reduction in the rate of electricity duty ranges from 5 per cent in the case of educational institutions (which pay between 20 and 40 per cent at present) to 10 per cent for hotels and entertainment industry, which at present pay 45 per cent.

The industrial units will also see their electricity duty falling from 20 per cent to 15 per cent.

In a bid to control air pollution in the State, the Finance Minister announced that the Compressed Natural Gas kits sold in the State would be fully exempted from the sales tax of 8 per cent applicable at present.

On the expenditure side, the Finance Minister has accorded top priority to water conservation and irrigation with an outlay of Rs 2,984 crore. The Government would spend Rs 150 crore on drip irrigation alone to tackle the water shortage in the State.

The transport sector will also get a big boost with a proposed outlay of Rs 1,263 crore while the social sector, which comprises health and education, would get Rs 4,026 crore.

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