MIDC units to get tax relief soon

Units in various industrial parks developed and run by the state government’s industrial infrastructure arm, MIDC, will get a huge relief with Chief Minister Ashok Chavan asking urban development ministry officials to immediately notify these industrial as industrial townships. The status will free the units from double taxation.

Industries currently have to pay user charges to MIDC for getting services like roads, water, electricity and other civic amenities. Besides, the local municipal corporation in whose jurisdiction the park comes imposes taxes and levies like octroi, property tax, etc.

To give relief to industry, the state legislature had passed the amendment to the Town Planning Act in 2003 itself.

However, a powerful lobby of politicians within the state government that had control over various municipal corporations prevented the change from getting notified it as they feared loss of revenue to municipal corporations.