By IANS,
New Delhi : In a measure to help farmers, the Delhi government Tuesday decided to remove value added tax (VAT), ranging between 5 and 12.5 percent, on fertilisers.
“The VAT on the fertilizers have been removed. This was the demand by the farmers,” Chief Minister Sheila Diskhit said after a cabinet meeting here.
“The government was receiving representations from the farmers requesting substantial relief on VAT being levied on fertilizers,” she told reporters.
The government is likely to incur a revenue loss of around Rs.33 lakh in 2011-12 as a result of the move.
Rrevenue from VAT levied on fertilizers increased by around 50 percent from Rs. 14,07,619 in 2009-10 to Rs.22,04,513 in 2010-11.
However, agriculture expert Devinder Sharma said the move will not benefit the farmers in the capital.
“The move is certainly not going to help the farmers as one hand, VAT is being waived off on fertilisers, and on the other hand, the prices of urea are being decontrolled,” Sharma told IANS.