Punjab govt's claims of improved revenue false: Amarinder Singh

Singh said the SAD-BJP govt has increased VAT several times, ranging between 6-15%, on many items, compared to 2% during his rule

Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh today rubbished the state government's claim that its revenue has improved during the last nine years of SAD-BJP rule and termed them as "false and baseless".

The state government has been giving out full-page advertisements in vernacular and English dailies for the past few days claiming Punjab's finances are sound and revenue has increased in the past nine years.

Referring to Sukhbir Badal's claim of having increased state's revenue as compared to the Congress regime's (between 2002 and 2007), Amarinder said the SAD-BJP government has increased VAT by several times, ranging between 6-15%, on many items, compared to 2% during his (Amarinder's) rule.

"No matter how many lies you (Sukhbir) tell, and how many times you repeat these, the lies will always remain lies, especially when they come out from someone like you who has lost all the credentials and credibility," he said.

"The fact of the matter is the development has come to a standstill and the rates of land have fallen by more than 70 per cent and still Sukhbir will try to make people believe that all is well," he said.

He said the main source of revenue is manufacturing and claimed it has gone down during the last nine years as most of the industries in Punjab have either shut down or shifted out.