Flour mill owners in Chandigarh agitated

Flour mill owners in Chandigarh are agitated over the issue of imposition of ‘purchase tax', which according to them is severely hurting their business. Small flour mill owners are perturbed by the levy of 4% purchase tax, which is not only making life difficult for them but is also having a cascading effect on the entire flour industry in Chandigarh. They are also astounded by the fact that purchase tax is being levied on flour mills in Chandigarh that is close to the states of Punjab and Haryana contributing almost 90% to the country's wheat production.

"Levying purchase tax on flour mills is not only jeopardising the flour industry, but is also affecting the wheat industry in Chandigarh as flour mill owners are left with no other alternative but to buy wheat from other states that are exempted from tax," says Gurmeet Singh, proprietor of Bonn food industries, a small-sized manufacturer of bakery products in Ludhiana, Punjab.

Other concerns

Apart from the levy of purchase tax, small flour owner mills are also concerned about the decrease in allocation of wheat to Chandigarh under the Public Distribution Scheme (PDS). In this context, Aditya Kalia, proprietor of Aroma Biscuits Exporters, a mid-sized manufacturer of confectionery products in Punjab says, "Allocation of wheat to Chandigarh has been abridged to 1,800 metric tonnes (MT) from 3,000 MT. The government must ensure that the allocation quota is raised so that it not helps the flour mills in Chandigarh, but also the common people who will be able to purchase wheat at subsidised rates, as compared to open market rates." It is to be noted that the PDS scheme helps consumers to avail essential commodities at a much cheaper rate in comparison to market prices.

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David Parks is a well known author and has written articles on Indian Automobile and Eyewear Companies, suppliers, Manufactures and many other subjects.