DoNER minister to Fin Min for incentives

The Ministry for Development of North Eastern Region is in dialogue with the Finance Ministry for withdrawal of the minimum alternate tax which was acting as a deterrent for industries in the region.

"Our ministry is in dialogue with the Finance Ministry on the minimum alternate tax (MAT) issue which was not there earlier. Let us see how best we can solve the problem," Minister of State for DoNER and Parliamentary Affairs Paban Singh Ghatowar said at an interactive session here on Friday.

Industry captains present at the meeting said that the imposition of MAT was taking away the competitive advantage for operating in the Northeast region as costs of production were high due to poor infrastructure and lack of connectivity.

Ghatowar said that development of Northeast was high on the agenda of the government at the Centre and the Planning Commission. He said that while tea and oil would be the mainstay of economic development in the Northeast, other industries also had good prospects like agro, micro and small-scale.