BHUBANESWAR: Anticipating implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1, the State Cabinet on Wednesday extended the Value Added Tax (VAT) concession on pulses for another three months till June 30.
The State Government had reduced tax rate on pulses from 5 per cent to 1 per cent for a period of three months since July 2016 and subsequently the benefit was extended for subsequent three months till March 31.
As per an assessment by the Commercial Taxes department, the State government is incurring a loss of about Rs 7 crore every three months. The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, is reported to have cleared the IT department proposal for providing 3.5 acre-land free of cost for the establishment of an IT park in Rourkela.
The State Cabinet also approved the Fisheries and Animal Resources Development department proposal to provide 51-acre land to Orissa State Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation (Omfed) for a milk processing plant at Baranga in Cuttack district. The fully automated plant will have a capacity to process 5 lakh-litre surplus milk from the farmers and produce processed products such as ice cream, paneer, curd and milk powder.
Sources said National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) has sanctioned a loan of Rs 244 crore from Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) for this plant. National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has been engaged as the consultant for this project.
The MSME department received Cabinet approval for amendments to Odisha Start-up Policy. Policy changes were required to provide incentives to start-ups on an individual basis. The amendment will encourage the MSME sector, sources revealed.
The State Cabinet is stated to have accepted the proposal of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for government land free of cost for construction of roads in the State.