The Hindu Business Line : `VAT will entail Rs 840-cr revenue loss for Kerala'

IMPLEMENTATION of the value-added tax (VAT) regime will lead to a revenue loss of Rs 840 crore for the State Government, the Finance Minister, Mr Vakkom Purushothaman, told newspersons on the sidelines of the State Assembly session here on Friday.

The matter has been referred to the Centre already, and it would taken up again when the Minister attends a meeting of the Empowered Committee on VAT slated to be held in New Delhi on Monday.

Tax on various commodities will stand revised from a high in some cases of 25 per cent to as low as one to four per cent. Further talks will be held with traders to remove apprehensions about a tax regime that has been tried and tested in 125 countries.

Traders with a turnover of up to Rs 10 lakh will now be exempted from the purview of VAT. The Minister ruled out the possibility of drug prices going up in the wake of implementation of VAT.

Eco-tourism plans: The State Government has appointed a Special Director for the promotion of eco tourism, according to Mr Aryadan Muhammed, Electricity Minister, who was officiating for the Tourism Minister.

A special fund for the purpose was being earmarked in the Plan budget from year to year. Over and above the allocation of Rs 1 crore for 2005-06, the share from the Tourism Department's budget will also be made available for the sector.

Eco tourism projects at Kallar (Thiruvananthapuram), Palaruvi and Thenmala (Kollam) have become operational, the Minister added.

Separately, Mr K.C. Venugopal, Tourism Minister, told the House that 56 places have been identified as having significant potential for development of eco tourism. These included exotic locations such as wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, lakes, mangroves and bird sanctuaries.

Penalty payments: The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has received a sum of Rs 6.64 crore by way of penalty imposed on power theft during the period between April 2004 and January 2005, Mr Aryadan Muhammed informed the Assembly.

In a written reply, he said 649 cases had been registered in this connection. The KSEB had replaced 20.35 lakh meters with electronic meters. The replacement will continue in a phased manner. The meters were purchased from companies based in Delhi, Noida, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Chennai and Punjab.

Organic farming: The Agriculture Minister, Ms K.R. Gowri, informed the House that a sum of Rs 1 crore has been set apart for promoting organic farming in the State.

Replying to questions, she said 200 training programmes for farmers would be held this year. An estimated 8,000 farmers would be covered under this programme.

The Centre has informed that the Bangalore-based Regional Biofertilisers Development Centre is being rechristened as Regional Organic Farming Centre with a mandate to promote organic farming in the southern States.

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