Ahead of the Assembly polls, the Gujarat government had assured industries of working towards doing away with the unforeseen problem of “double taxation” in industrial estates. The state-owned Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation had acquired 5,000 acres of land in and around Sanand for future use by industries.
However, what it perhaps overlooked, was the fact that the land sat across four village panchayats, Bol and Charal being the two major ones. As such, those commercial establishments which span more than a single village are liable to pay property taxes to more than one municipality. Over and above, the MNCs also pay huge service charges to GIDC for providing necessary infra such as road, water, power and garbage disposal.
Meanwhile, despite the new government having been in power for over three months, there has been no decision yet. That leaves some multinational corporations (MNCs) at Sanand Industrial Estate in the lurch over property tax payments.
Different entities in the Sanand Industrial Estate come under the purview of different village panchayats. Estimates by the Sanand Industries Association suggest that four village panchayats have now collectively demanded outstanding tax payments to the tune of Rs 50 crores.
The land allotted within Sanand Industrial Estate falls under four different village panchayats, each of which demands property tax dues from respective companies in their area. In one particular case, the factory of a certain MNC falls spans under two villages – Bol and Charal. “The total tax at Charal has been paid, however, the tax at Bol, where a majority of the land is located, is still pending,” shared a revenue department official.
This becomes double trouble for industries. Raising objections to the issue, Maxxis Rubber India Private Limited has submitted a representation to the GIDC.
Ajit Shah, president, Sanand Industries Association, said, “We have filed a petition against the double taxation issue before the Gujarat HC. Till the matter is sub-judice, companies in Sanand Industrial Estate are not liable to pay any property tax dues to village panchayats.”
He said the issue is hampering industrial operations as MNC representatives are facing challenges in justifying their expenditures after double taxation. “We hope that after the state government’s intervention, industry associations will get a refund of 75% of their dues paid to the respective local authorities which will result in a world-class infrastructure at Sanand,” Shah added.
However, Narendrasinh Barad, sarpanch of Bol village rued the MNCs which defaulted on their property tax dues. “Many companies have not even completed the necessary assessment at our panchayat and several are not paying property taxes. Factories of some 150 companies fall under Bol village panchayat. We are levying property tax only based on the construction size,” he stated.
Barad listed the companies that have failed to pay the property tax to Bol village panchayat. Among major defaulters are Maxxis Rubber India Pvt Ltd (Rs 6 crore), Colgate Palmolive India (Rs 4 crore), Inductotherm (Rs 3 crore), Mitsui Kinzoku Components India Pvt Ltd (Rs 2 crore), JBM Auto (Rs 1.70 crore), Hitachi High Power Electronics (Rs 1.50 crore) and Magna Automotive (Rs 70 lakh).
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