With service tax refunds to IT companies in Andhra Pradesh mounting, the State Government will write to the Union Finance Ministry to resolve the issue quickly.

The State Minister for IT&C, Mr Ponnala Lakshmaiah, who reviewed the situation said its time an institutional mechanism was evolved to streamline the matter. Tax refunds for the ICT sector in Andhra Pradesh are huge and pending since 2008.

According to IT industry sources, the estimated total refunds due would be in the range of Rs 300-400 crore. It was around Rs 250 crore for two dozen big companies itself.

The Minister held a joint meeting with the Commissioner, Service Tax and IT Industries Associations here yesterday. The Minister expressed concern about the large refund outstanding towards the ICT sector.

In another review with the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), the Minister was briefed about several pending issues. Pending court cases, allotment of land in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam to industries, issues pertaining to land for TCS and Cognizant, were discussed.

An update on the proposed gaming and animation park and the IT towers in Warangal, Visakhaptanam and Tirupati were provided to the Minister by the Secretary IT, Mr Sanjay Jaju, and the Managing Director of APIIC, Mr B.R. Meena.

Mr Ponnala advised the two officials to draw a stipulated timeframe for each of issues discussed and sort them out.