Maharashtra to exempt security equipments from Sales Tax

Nagpur, Oct 15 (UNI) The Maharashtra government will exempt security equipments from Sales Tax to make them more affordable, Deputy Chief minister R R Patil, who also holds the Home portfolio, said here today.

Speaking to newsmen here shortly after returning from Khairlanji in neighbouring Bhandara district where four members of a family were lynched by a mob last month, Patil said Sales Tax on security equipments like metal detectors and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras would be abolished in the forthcoming budget.

The state government would also request the Centre to reduce the customs duty on such equipments, Patil said adding that this would reduce the cost and encourage private organisations to install the equipment.

Patil said the state government and the Railways were still in discussion over who would bear the cost of installing CCTV cameras on Mumbai's suburban railway system even over three months after the July 11 bomb blasts in the metropolis. By contrast, the metro rail system had installed the equipments within four months after the bomb blasts in London, he pointed out.

The state had been asking the Centre in vain for more funds for better security because Maharashtra was the country's capital hub and, therefore, the second most preferred target for a terrorist strike after Jammu and Kashmir, the Home Minister said.

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