Odisha Cabinet clears 11 proposals

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, May 11:

The Odisha Cabinet in its first meeting after the recently held ministry reshuffle today approved a proposal to impose State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) on all items barring six items.

The six items which have been exempt from imposition of SGST include five petroleum products and alcohol.

The five petroleum products proposed for exemption of SGST are petrol, diesel, crude oil, aviation fuel and natural gas.

“Post-GST implementation, there will be only three kinds of taxes — central GST, state GST, and integrated GST. However, six goods, including five petroleum products and alcohol, will not be under GST purview for the time being,” said Finance Secretary T K Pande.

The Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved 11 proposals including the proposal on SGST.

In another significant decision to protect the interest of moong farmers, the Cabinet approved a proposal to exempt VAT on moong to be procured from farmers through MARKFED. From now onwards MARKFED will procure moong from farmers at Rs 52.25 per kg. The VAT waiver will cost the state exchequer Rs 2 crore.

The state Cabinet also hiked electricity duty on power generated by captive power plants (CPP) for their own consumption from the existing 30 paise per unit to 55 paise.

The state government will generate additional revenue of Rs 875 crore annually following the hike in electricity duty, said Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Surya Narayan Patro.

Besides, the Cabinet has approved the Inquiry Commission’s report on Kalinganagar firing.

Moreover, in order to facilitate development of rail infrastructure, the state government has remitted stamp duty and registration fees for execution of lease deeds in 11 ongoing railway projects in the state.