PANAJI
In a crucial joint meeting with several departments, Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar, has instructed Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) to provide details about coal/coke being imported by companies from the port since 2010 so that ‘Goa Rural Improvement and Welfare Cess' can be recovered from the defaulting companies.
The said cess is payable on the movement of coal/coke, through all means including roads and water, in the state. A number of companies like Vedanta, Adani and JSW import coal/coke from MPT and transport it through trucks or barges, but seldom do they pay cess to the transport department.
The state government will have a clear idea about how much cess is due from these companies on account of the cess when MPT shares the exact details.
The Goan Everyday had in its January 3 edition reported about Chief Minister Parrikar calling a joint-meeting with departments like Transport, Mining, Police, Customs, Captain of Ports, MPT and Indian Railways to formulate processes to recover ‘Goa Rural Improvement and Welfare Cess' from the companies.
Sources informed that Parrikar was briefed during the meeting on how these companies are neither complying with the law about moving coal/coke and nor are they responding to several notices sent to them by the transport department.
Sources further revealed that Parrikar instructed Captain of Ports to check for challan whenever a barge is seen transporting coke/coal through inland waterways. The challan would be issued on the payment of cess by the transport department.
Based on the decisions taken in the meeting, it is expected that Rs 50 crore worth of cess will be recovered from these companies by March 2018. The transport department has sent notice to Vedanta alone to pay cess amounting to Rs 38 crore. Overall, it is estimated that Rs 150 crore should be collected by the state government on the recovery of the said cess easily.
It was actually Transport Director, Nikhil Desai, who had urged the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) to call this joint meeting. Sources also informed that no one from Indian Railways was present in the meeting. Parrikar assured that he will take up this matter with the Union Railways Minister, Piyush Goyal.
