Government rolls back VAT hike on building material

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 24

The state government has decided to roll back the proposed hike in VAT on sand, concrete and gravel (building material) mined from the river beds. Earlier, the government had decided to increase it to 13.5 per cent from 9 per cent.

The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting in November but the order was not notified after it was opposed by the Stone Crushers’ Association of Kumaon.

The pressure exerted by the Stone Crushers’ Association had the desired effect and the government did not notify it. Association members had said the hike in VAT would make the building material costly in Uttarakhand in comparison to other states such as Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, where it was 5 per cent.

Further, the government is planning to reduce the transit fee on mining material procured from the forests, which was raised from 50 paise to Rs 5.