Dinsha urges Modi not to impose VAT on tobacco

Nadiad, Apr 8 (UNI) Union Minister of State for Petroleum Dinsha Patel today urged Chief Minister Narendra Modi not to introduce 12 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on tobacco in Gujarat and to stay the imposition of VAT on sugarcane and ethanol as announced earlier.

The State government has imposed 12.5 per cent VAT on sugarcane, ethanol and tobacco from April 1.

Taxing farmers on ethanol will drastically impact their overall well-being,'' Mr Patel told reporters here.

Sugarcane is grown in major parts of south and central Gujarat and ethanol is produced from sugarcane. Since ethanol is an organic matter and a byproduct of sugarcane, its production and sale is an impetus to the growth of farmers, he said.

Yesterday, over 10,000 tobacco-producing farmers from all over Gujarat had gathered in Anand to protest against the 12 per cent VAT directly levied on raw-tobacco production by the state government.

Gujarat Tobacco Merchant Association (GTMA) President Bhikhubhai N Patel, while addressing the gathering, had said that the BJP government should immediately withdraw the VAT as it will sound the deathknell for tobacco farmers of the state.

Mr Patel said the VAT will leave Gujarat tobacco farmers in the lurch as their agricultural land can not yield any other crop.

The Congress has planned a rally in Anand tomorrow to highlight the adverse effects of the 12.5 per cent Value-added tax (VAT) on sugarcane, ethanol and tobacco.

The party will also give a memorandum to district collector R N Joshi, a release from Nadiad City Congress Committee chief Navinbhai Bhavsar here today said.

The GTMA members also submitted a memoradum to Mr Patel to be handed over to Mr Modi to reconsider the implementation of VAT.

UNI