Indore: Industrialists demand lowering CNG prices

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Industrialists of the city have demanded that the price of CNG should be reduced by lowering VAT on the fuel. To inspire units to switch from coal and diesel to CNG, it was necessary to do so, they said.

Being adjudged the cleanest city of the country for five times in a row, the city is now endeavouring to clean the air of the city, too, and industries are being asked to use clean energy in place of coal and diesel in boilers.

A delegation led by Pramod Dafaria, president of the Association of Industries of Madhya Pradesh (AIMP), met commercial tax commissioner Lokesh Kumar Jatav at his office on Tuesday. The delegation briefed him that industries are getting CNG at higher rates in the city compared with Dewas. Due to this, the cost of production of the industries is increasing, putting them at a disadvantage vis-à-vis their competitors.

Dafaria told Jatav that the high rates of CNG and the cost for a plant to convert to CNG would affect the industries adversely. The industries are facing difficulties in switching to CNG since coal and wood are much cheaper. He said that, if industries get the benefit of 14% VAT refund as input tax credit (ITC), they would get some relief. In future, CNG should be brought under the GST regime instead of VAT so that industries did not suffer, he said.

Industrialist Dilip Dev said the state was getting CNG at a prohibitive rate compared to the neighbouring states. A detailed report would soon be prepared and given to the commissioner by the association, he added.

On the invitation of the association, the commissioner also gave his approval to visit the AIMP office for discussions with the industrialists there. Sunil Vyas, Prakash Jain, Dilip Dev, Tarun Vyas, Anil Paliwal, Satish Mittal, Amit Dhakad, Manish Chaudhary, Sharad Dosi, Hari Agarwal, Ashok Dangi and others were present on this occasion.