The Hindu Business Line : AP asks for 1% agri cess on tobacco crop

Hyderabad, Jan. 31 The Andhra Pradesh Government will convene a meeting with officials of the Tobacco Board and traders on February 2 to thrash out the issue relating to agricultural cess on the tobacco crop, and the State’s share.

The State Marketing Department has asked the Tobacco Board, which has been collecting the two per cent cess on the crop auctioned on its floor, to part with at least a per cent of the collection.

The meeting assumes importance in the backdrop of the tobacco auctions season slated to begin on February 1 in six out of the 21 floors in the State. The State Finance Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, has called for the meeting to sort out the matter with representatives of the Tobacco Board, traders and farmers.

He told Business Line that the Marketing Department feels that the cess should be collected as per the Marketing Act and would yield a good amount.

Trader auction

The Department has also been losing out as the traders are opting to either auction them without bringing them to the market yards, or are going to Karnataka.

“If the pending cess is collected, as per estimates, it runs into crores. Therefore, the Department thought it fit that at least one per cent of this comes to the State exchequer from the 2 per cent collected by the Tobacco Board,” Mr Rosaiah explained.

With the State now keen to pursue the cess collection, there is the possibility of traders actually boycotting auctions as well.

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AP asks for 1% agri cess on tobacco crop