Cabinet okays 13 irrigation schemes, names after Parbati
BHUBANESWAR: The State Cabinet on Saturday approved tender for 13 mega lift irrigation schemes with a total command area of 19,400 hectares in Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts.
Lowest bid of `517.77 crore by GVPR Engineers Limited was approved at the Cabinet meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Chief Secretary AP Padhi told mediapersons that 102 mega lift irrigation schemes in eight clusters are now under construction since August, 2013 in a phased manner in 17 districts. It has been planned to take up 174 schemes in 15 clusters in 22 districts to create an additional irrigation potential of 2,14,270 hectares.
The Chief Minister named the mega lift irrigation scheme launched by the State Government as Parbati Giri lift irrigation scheme as a mark of respect for her immense contribution to the freedom movement and service to the poor and needy.
The Cabinet approved a proposal to extend the time limit for reduction of rate of tax on pulses and dals of all kinds from 5 per cent to 1 per cent up to March 31, 2017 under the Odisha VAT Act. The VAT rate on pulses and dals of all kinds was brought down to 1 per cent for three months from July 1, 2016 keeping in view the general hardship of the common citizen.
According to an assessment made by the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, there is revenue loss of `7 crore every quarter due to the reduction of tax rate on pulses and dals.
However, the Cabinet decided to extend the time limit for reduction of tax rate on dals and pulses since foodgrains are likely to be exempted under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The Cabinet approved the proposal to amend Odisha Apparel Policy to enhance incentives for apparel units to attract more investment and create more job opportunities. A unit will receive an incentive of `1,500 per worker per month on actual employment on a financial year basis. This incentive will be available to the unit for 36 months provided the condition of employing a minimum of 200 workers is fulfilled. Besides, 90 per cent of the workers in such a unit should be domicile of Odisha.
The Cabinet approved tender for construction of sewerage system of Rourkela city on Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode of contract. The contract was awarded to Larsen and Toubro Limited for the lowest bid of `340.2 crore.
The Cabinet also approved tender for construction of sewerage system of Sambalpur town on EPC mode of contract. The contract was awarded to Gharpure Engineering and Construction Private Limited at the lowest bid of `324.31 crore.