SAD wants more taxes to generate Rs 2,700 cr,BJP needs time to think

In the two-hour long meeting,attended by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal,Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal,Finance Minister Parminder Dhindsa,senior BJP leader Balramji Dass Tandon and BJP Legislative Party leader Madan Mohan Mittal among others,the SAD leaders cited taxes in BJP-ruled states to overcome its ally’s resistance to property tax to be levied by the local bodies department,a portfolio held by the saffron party.

The SAD made a presentation on tax proposals stating that almost all the BJP-ruled states,with the exception of Himachal Pradesh,have levied professional tax. Also,a majority of them,including Madhya Pradesh,Karnataka and Gujarat,have levied property tax,a urban reform that is linked to grant funds under the centrally-sponsored Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal scheme on which Punjab has been losing central funds worth crores of rupees.

It also cited the Rs 2,000-crore loan that local bodies in Punjab can avail from Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) once the property tax is operationalised.

The state has deferred imposing at least two tax proposals,including hike in electricity duty,owing to last week’s 12 per cent hike in power tariffs. The Rs 1 lakh levy on mobile towers too was dropped as a similar case is pending in the Delhi High Court.

The BJP leaders while admitting that the fiscal health of the state needed drastic measures,were however non-committal. The party said it will hold the meeting of its core committee and convey its decision by next week.