Industry demand: Reduce power tariff and construct good roads before inviting investment
After chief minister Devendra Fadnavis made what looked like a big bang announcement, the 'Make in Maharashtra' policy with a time-bound single-point clearances for industries, India Inc. seems hardly impressed.
Industry bodies feel the new government must first meet their long pending demands to a create business-friendly environment including doing away with taxes like octroi and local bodies tax (LBT) and making drastically improving roads and other infrastructure, before expecting businesses to make a beeline to the state.
What is the industry demand?
The main demand is for abolishing the two local taxes since Maharashtra is the only state with such a double taxation. "Before rolling out the 'Make in Maharashtra' policy, government must check if the state has adequate infrastructure and environment for the big ticket investments. The BJP government must do away with LBT and octroi," says Vijay Kalantri, president of All India Association of Industries (AIAI). The Federation of Association of Maharashtra (FAM) too has made similar demands.
Will Fadnavis budge?
Quite likely. Fadnavis has announced that the government will take a relook at these two taxes. A meeting has been called on November 20 to discuss the issue. One of the taxes may go but it is unlikely that the entire wish-list of the industry can be seen through. The infrastructure issues are long standing demands and will take considerable time to sort out.
What are the other issues worrying industry?
Industry bodies feel that high power tariff, scarcity of water and poor road connectivity are also discouraging factors. "Maharashtra has a higher power tariff than Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh because of which the state is losing out business to these states. Government must consider ways and means to generate power at lower costs, curb power loss in transmission and increase production rather than hiking the power tariff," states the AIAI in a letter written to Fadnavis on November 6. AIAI has also demanded removal of Re1 surcharge on petrol. "The surcharge was introduced in 2000 when petrol was Rs 22 and diesel was Rs15. After protests by transporters, the surcharge from diesel was withdrawn but on petrol it is continued," reads another letter sent by the AIAI to Fadnavis.
Are some of the demands too far fetched?
The AIAI has also requested government to modify housing society rules so that residents are not harassed for doing small alterations in the flats and housing societies. "Enclosing of balcony, watchman cabin, putting up of compound walls, or sheds should be regularised in order to mitigate hardships and harassment posed by NGOs," says one of the demands. But relaxation in such rules is likley to create havoc especially in cities like Mumbai where civic rules are broken with impunity.
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