Central incentives stuck without actual figures

Ambika Sharma

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Tribune News Service

Solan,September 15

With the industrial units eligible for Central financial incentives failing to furnish requisite information to officials of the Central Goods and Service Tax, the notification of a budget-based Central scheme to reimburse the financial incentives has been delayed. 

Out of the 1,283 eligible units, only 233 had come forward to submit the requisite information while it was awaited from the remaining 1,050 units across the state. 

Officials had sought information, including the date of commencement of commercial production, central excise registration number, GST registration number, specified goods manufactured and bank details from the eligible units about a month ago. Since most of such units were not registered with the department, their contact details including e-mail were not available with the department’s field staff and this acted as a deterrent to work out the budgetary requirement for the state. 

The officials had requested the local industry associations, chartered accountants, consultants, etc., to furnish this information. However, despite constant persuasion, requisite information had been received from merely 233 units. The absence of this information was causing delay in notifying the Central scheme and officials were now requesting all concerned to furnish the information without further delay to the Central GST office .

The officials also assumed that some units could have closed their manufacturing operations and hence the total number of eligible units could be less. 

The industrial units that were availing area-based exemption up to June and had commenced commercial production till March 2010 by setting up new units or by making substantial exemption in the existing units were eligible for the Central incentives for 10 years till March 2020. However, with the introduction of GST, the Central Excise Act has been repealed and all the exemptions given there under were withdrawn with effect from June 1. The Union Government had now decided to reimburse the Central incentives and pay a budgetary support equal to the Central share of 58 per cent to these eligible units. 

Heer Bhagat Negi, Commissioner, Central Goods and Service Tax,  while appealing to the units said though timely and proper information would not debar the unit of the budgetary support but it would certainly result in delay in issuance of notification, which would adversely affect the benefits accruing to all industrial units. He requested the industry to furnish the required information to the jurisdictional Central GST office at the earliest so that notification for budgetary support was finalised and issued without further delay. 

It was,however, ironical that on one hand eligible investors were ruing the lack of budgetary support from the state government and on the other hand they were lax in submitting requisite information to the central authorities.