Punjab seeks review of tax holiday to industry in hill states

Claiming that the extension of tax holiday for industrial units in hill states was affecting Punjab, the state government has decided to approach the central government in this regard.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said Friday that the tax concessions were detrimental to the interests of industry in Punjab and that the state government would urge the Centre to review the tax holiday granted to neighbouring hill states.

Badal said that Punjab would seek a review of the special facilities granted to neighbouring states and would also ask for a special package for the state's industrial sector.

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government had in January this year extended the tax holiday for industry in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand till March 2017. Punjab had termed the move "discriminatory".

Badal had said that Punjab was losing out on industrial investment due to tax concessions given to neighbouring states.

Punjab being a land-locked state, along an active and hostile international border with Pakistan, has been demanding tax concessions for the state's industry.

Scores of industrial units in the state have shifted base to hill states like Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand due to massive tax holidays offered there. In the past nearly two decades, no major industrial investment has taken place in Punjab.