Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, June 7, 2015 :

A ten-member Joint Committee constituted by the Odisha government will study the disparities in Value Added Tax (VAT) rates levied on pulses, wheat and wheat products vis a vis other states.

The Joint Committee is headed by Biraj Kumar Das finance department special secretary.

The Joint Committee will examine various problems affecting the functioning of flour and dal mills in the state including purchase, sale and VAT paid on pulses, wheat and its product.

Fiance minister, Pradip Kumar Amat informed that the Joint Committee also will have members from different departments of the government and representatives from Federation of All Odisha Traders’ Association (FAOTA). The Committee has been asked to submit its report within three months.

The Joint Committee will examine the per capita consumption of wheat and wheat products, pulses from 2012-13 to 2014-15, production of wheat and wheat products and pulses during the period among other things, official sources revealed.

The government constituted the Joint Committee after the FAOTA had launched an agitation in April last demanding waiver of the five percent value added tax (VAT) on these items. It had claimed that 24 states had waived VAT on these items.

In fact, the FAOTA stopped import of pulses and wheat products into the state in protest against the disparity in the rate of VAT.

It had proposed imposition of one percent Entry Tax in lieu of five percent VAT on these items, a suggestion the government has rejected stating that it was not possible at this juncture since the matter is pending in the Supreme Court.