The
chief minister has also announced VAT (value-added tax) waiver
for shoes that cost up to Rs 300. VAT on shoes whose price is
up to Rs 500 have also been reduced from 11.5 per cent to 4
per cent, which is a big relief for the leather industry.
Though
Mayawati made these announcement at a rally in Agra on
Tuesday, the state cabinet had cleared the proposals in its
meeting last week. The announcement was delayed because the
model code of conduct was enforced in the state due to the
by-elections in three assembly segments and two parliament
seats.
According
to the directives of the chief minister, the wholesale market
for shoe will be set up by the government only with all the
facilities for the traders.
The
state cabinet has cleared the proposal of waiving VAT on shoes
costing upto Rs 300 alongwith the work book used by the school
going children. The shoe makers of Agra and Kanpur were
demanding this VAT waiver since long and has also met the
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in January.
Rahul,
after meeting the shoe makers of Agra and Kanpur had asked the
Uttar Pradesh government to waive VAT on cheap leather items.
However, now the Mayawati government has taken some steps to
provide relief to the leather industry in the state.
As
per the announcement, the leather park in Agra would be set up
very soon and for this 250 acres would be acquired.
The
state government has decided to release Rs 100 crore for the
development of the park where state-of-the-art facilities
would be made available. It may be mentioned that UP, the last
state to implement VAT from January this year has reduced
trade tax on 463 items, while tax on 1376 items remains
unchanged.
So
