Will focus on improving state's tax revenue by eliminating corruption: Bengal FM Swapan Dasgupta

Kolkata, June 24 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led West Bengal government will focus on increasing the state's own tax revenue generation by eliminating corruption in the tax collection system, the new state Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta, a journalist-turned-politician, said.

"Just on Tuesday, the Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had pointed out how there had been a phenomenal growth in collection of the revenue just from the stone quarries in Birbhum district and that too in less than two months since the new BJP government took charge last month. There were massive irregularities in tax collection from this sector. Out of eight trucks carrying stones, tax was collected from just one truck. Now we are trying to detect these loopholes leading to tax collection leakages and thus improve the state's own tax revenue generation, but without burdening the common people," Dasgupta told IANS in an exclusive interview.

Claiming that a new industrial policy will be in place in the state soon, Dasgupta said that there will be major changes in the existing land policies in the state government to facilitate both industrial and infrastructure development.

"We have already announced our decision to review the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976, to improve land availability for projects. I feel that this archaic act, which is just a relic of the old socialist days should be scrapped. There is land which is not being used which was earlier given to for industries. Why do we construct shopping malls on these lands meant for industry. It is better to use that for industrial development," the state Finance Minister added.

Speaking to IANS, Dasgupta also said that in the state finance aspect his target is to reduce dependence on state excise for state's own tax revenue collections and at the same time handle the huge accumulated debt burden that the new state government had inherited.

According to the West Bengal Finance Minister, the focus of the new government is to effectively coordinate and work together with the Union government for development of the state's economy.

"The previous regime (Trinamool Congress government) was always at loggerheads with the Union government, which is not at all a healthy policy in a system of democratic federalism."

"During the last 15 years of the previous regime, the state government bypassed Central projects one after another, as a result of which the benefits of the Central projects did not reach the people of the state. But the new government will work in close coordination with the Union government for developing the state economy and ensuring better welfare of the people, the positive aspects of which are already being felt by the people," Dasgupta said.

He concluded by claiming that the new state government will give an aggressive push to the state's economy.

"We are trying to make it an aggressively market economy. There is no other alternative to it as of now. We will allow shops and merchant establishments to run on a 24x7 basis. It will give a push to revenue collection and also generate employment. Kolkata will be a very different city henceforth," Dasgupta added.

--IANS

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