By IANS,
Raipur : The Chhattisgarh government has frozen the bank account of the Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), the flagship unit of the state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), for failing to clear tax dues.
The Bhilai unit has to pay Rs.408 crore to the state in tax dues, government officials said.
The account was frozen late Monday after the plant failed to meet a three-day deadline to clear the dues.
“Since the Bhilai Steel Plant management was intentionally delaying payment of dues, the state government had to take the strong step of freezing the bank account,” R.K. Meshram, deputy commissioner of the commercial tax department, told reporters.
The government has asked the plant to clear the dues at the earliest.
S.P.S. Jaggi, a spokesperson of the Bhilai plant, has confirmed that its bank account with State Bank of India had been frozen.
Sources said plant officials pleaded for three months’ time, but the government did not agree and issued orders to freeze the account.
The government’s move comes a few days after the Chhattisgarh High Court endorsed the state government’s decision to levy entry tax on the SAIL unit.