From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Sep 15: Issue of trade licences to industries within the jurisdiction of Bruhat Banglaore Mahanagara Palike and other city municipal corporations in the State are proposed to be liberalized as per the changes on the anvil in the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, according to Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister S Suresh Kumar, who is also handling the Urban Development Department.
The Minister made this statement after holding a meeting with office-bearers of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) in Bangalore on Thursday.
The city corporations have been trying to bring industries under the trade licence ambit, but the latter have been fighting the move saying industries come under Factories Act, and hence need not pay the trade licence fee.
Instead of paying trade license fee, the minister said steps would be taken to allow industries to pay tax under the Self-Assessment Scheme once in three or five years.
FKCCI President J R Bangera and Department Secretary Shambhu Dayal Meena were present.
There could be about 50,000 micro, mini, small, medium and large-scale industries in the BBMP limits with most of these units in clusters at Bommanahalli, Peenya and Devasandra-Mahadevapura, Bangera said.
"All units which use power in their production must take trade licence under the KMC Act. However, BBMP officials point out that whenever the civic authority seeks to impose the trade licence fee, the industry lobby digs in its heels and pulls strings at the highest level."
The official estimates that just about 5 per cent of the industries may have paid the trade licence fee when in fact the civic authority stands to collect anywhere between Rs 25 crore and Rs 100 crore, if all industries complied with the norm.
The BBMP's plan to pressure the industries to fall in line by threatening power disconnection also failed. “The Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. (KPTCL) Act came in our way, as we cannot disconnect the power line for this purpose,” the officials said.