Industralists on Tuesday met CM Parkash Singh Badal in his Chandigarh office and asked him to reduce value added tax (VAT) on bicycle components and finished bicycle at 2.75%. They said that manufacturers mostly purchase components within Punjab by paying tax at 6.05% and sell the finished product mostly outside by paying tax at 2.20%. It should be corrected, said Gurmeet Singh Kular, president of Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation (FICO).

In addition to this they asked the CM to see the mechanised working of todays industry. More than 25 years back when most of the work was manual, 20 KW was the limit for setting up a small power unit and it is the same now when everything runs on a machine.

So it should now be 50 KW instead of 20 KW, they added. Excise and Taxation department verifies before refunding the VAT upto fourth stage, whereas there is no such provision to do so and department cannot verify even from first stage. The industry who has already paid VAT to the earlier stages should be allowed refund without any deduction and without raising any objection, added Kular.

They added that when a family of a manufacturer divides, electric connection should also be allowed to split up. In PSIEC there is a provision to split the plot so the power connection should be allowed to split. Industrialists also gave a unique demand that pollution control board while doing inspection of the unit, should disconnect the power of a particular section where pollution norms have been violated rather disconnecting the power supply of the whole unit.

A piece of land of atleast 150 acres on Chandigarh Road or GT Road should be allotted for setting up or shifting electroplating/zinc plating industry and other Units which fall under Red category, plots should be given on priority and effluent lines should be laid and Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation (FICO), Ludhiana be involved in this issue, requested the members.