The Hindu Business Line : VAT on coconut oil, tender water to go

Thiruvananthapuram May 6 The Kerala Government has decided to withdraw Value-Added Tax applicable to coconut oil as well as processed tender coconut water.

Announcing this, the State Finance Minister, Dr Thomas Isaac, said here that the decision on withdrawal of the 4 per cent VAT on coconut oil was taken at a meeting of State Finance Ministers held recently in New Delhi.

The Minister was delivering the inaugural address at the valedictory session of Cocofest-2007, the national-level coconut festival, being held here. He later said in reply to a query that VAT applicable for processed coconut tender water would also be brought down to zero from the prevailing 12.50 per cent. The Minister said that various Government organs and mechanisms should work in unison to find a lasting solution to the problems that coconut farmers have been facing for a long time. He complimented the Coconut Development Board for various activities being implemented for the welfare of farmers.

The Government would not be found lacking in follow-up measures required to deal with the challenging task of coconut procurement and processing. In this respect, he mentioned that procurement efforts should now shift from copra to coconuts.

The Minister gave away prizes for winners for various competitions being held as part of the festival. Mr K. Jayakumar, Agriculture Production Commissioner, was the chief guest at the function.

Mr Sukumara Pillai, Chairman, Kerafed, the coconut farmers' cooperative; Mr C. M. Kamaraj, Vice-Chairman, Coir Board; and Ms Minnie Mathew, Chairperson, Coconut Development Board, also spoke on the occasion.

Among those who headed the various seminar sessions or presented papers included Dr K. N. Harilal, Member Planning Board; Dr Thomas Varghese, Chairman, Agriculture Prices Board; and Prof V. Mukunda Das of the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala.

More Stories on : Taxation | Coconut & Copra | Kerala

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