Excise arrears: Govt. to waive Rs. 260 crores interest

By Our Staff Correspondent

MADIKERI, FEB. 18. The Minister of State for Information Technology, Mr. M.M.Nanaiah, said here on Sunday that the Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna, would make an announcement on the waiving of a whopping Rs. 260 crores interest on excise arrears in the next budget.

He told The Hindu that after the previous budget session, the rules concerned were amended by the Government. A notification was to be issued in due course. But an order of the apex court relating to a case involving a private firm had stipulated that the interest should be collected first and principal amount recovered later. Following this, the Government had to re-think on its decision. Now, the interest amount on the excise arrears had crossed Rs. 400 crores, with the principal amount being Rs. 152 crores. The issue was now before the Law Ministry, which was scrutinising the matter. The High Court of Karnataka had left the waiver of interests to the discretion of the Government.

Accordingly, the Government could waive, increase or reduce the interests. Mr. Nanaiah said the excise arrears had accrued right from the Hyderabad-Karnatak days.

Mr. Nanaiah said that the excise revenue was expected to cross the Rs. 1,500-crore mark during the current excise year, a jump of over Rs. 250 crores compared to the previous year. This was apart from the sales tax collections, he added.

Asked about reviving toddy tapping in the State, particularly Kodagu, Mr. Nanaiah said the opinion of experts from the departments of Agriculture and Horticulture had been sought in this regard.

The experts had felt that allowing tapping of toddy from coconut trees could help bring down the mite attacks on coconut plants, he said. After the opinion was obtained, the Government could come out with a suitable decision.

He admitted that there was pressure on him earlier from the toddy tappers, individuals and even some elected representatives to revive toddy collection. Some had expressed doubts that adulterated toddy affected the health of consumers.

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Section  : Southern States
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