Sukhbir Badal assures sugar millers to consider their demands sympathetically

Chandigarh, October 15, 2014: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today assured Punjab Private Sugar Mills Association that state would consider their demands sympathetically to bring out the industry suffering hardships.

Presiding over a meeting with delegation of Punjab Private Sugar Mills Association led by its President Jarnail Singh Wahid, Deputy Chief Minister asked the Excise and Taxation department to come out with a detailed proposal concerning dual taxation regime before next meeting. Badal informed the delegation that State was ready to take pending purchase tax on sugar cane from April 1, 2005 to November 19, 2011 in installments.

Referring to another demand put forth by the association to waive off the interest and penalty over the due amounts, Badal said that the government would take this issue to cabinet where the final decision would be taken.

Jarnail Singh Wahid led delegation sought the abolition of purchase tax on sugar cane under the Punjab VAT Act with effect from the crushing season of 2013-14 besides depositing of pending amounts without any interest. He apprised Deputy CM that the sugar industry was bearing severe losses due to low sugar prices and high cane prices making mills uncompetitive. He said that despite sugar surpluses the millers were unable to export the same since the production cost was too high and Indian sugar exports have become unviable.

Meanwhile Deputy CM assured that decision on their demands would be taken soon and he, on the spot, directed officers of Excise and Taxation Department to draft a proposal by next week securing the interests of sugar mills.

Prominent among others present in the meeting included  D.P Reddy principal secretary  excise and taxation, Anurag Verma excise and taxation commissioner, Ajay Mahajan special principal secretary to deputy chief minister and Kamalpreet Kaur Brar managing director sugarfed, Veerinderjit Singh Rana from Rana Sugars, Harish Pahwa from Nahar sugar mills, M.P. Sinha from Piccadilly sugar mills.

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