Odisha extends 1% levy on dal till March, 2017

Odisha produces 1,30,000 tonne of pulses and relies heavily on imports to meet the domestic demand

Anticipating implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 2017, Odisha government has extended the tenure of collection of VAT (value added tax) on dal and pulses at a reduced rate of one per cent till March, 2017.
 
After the persisting demand from traders, the state government was forced to reduce rate on these commodities from five per cent to one per cent for a period of three months since July 2016 and subsequently the benefit was extended for another three months.

The consumption of pulses in the state is pegged at about 0.95 million tonnes with