Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday assured the Assembly that his government would soon put in place an institutional mechanism to ensure the state does not incur a loss in revenue, once the
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday assured the Assembly that his government would soon put in place an institutional mechanism to ensure the state does not incur a loss in revenue, once the Central government implements the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
A day after Rajya Sabha approved a constitutional amendment allowing the Centre to roll out GST, MLAs in the Assembly demanded to know how the CM intended to tackle the expected shortfall in the state.
“States will have to come up with their own Acts now, as the local body tax, Octroi will be abolished. The Centre has promised to compensate states for five years in case of deficit revenue. We will have an institutional mechanism so that the civic body is able to generate funds and will not have to depend on anybody,” Mr Fadnavis said.
MLAs also asked the CM on how the state would screen vehicles carrying goods into Mumbai from other states.
Shiv Sena MLA Sunil Prabhu specifically mentioned the octroi posts that would be rendered defunct once the GST is implemented. “If we abolish octroi posts, then what about vehicles coming into the city What if they carry RDX, drugs There will not be any mechanism to monitor such vehicles,” he said.
Mr Fadnavis said for this purpose CCTV cameras would be installed at various points in the city.
“At the octroi posts, a CCTV camera will be installed. The city already has a CCTV camera network that can detect vehicles carrying goods. We will also introduce X-ray machines that can scan the vehicles without stopping them. Mumbai will not be vulnerable,” assured Mr Fadnavis.
