Lavasa City owes Pune Rs 4 crores in land tax

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Maharashtra assembly has pointed out that Lavasa City Corporation’s various tax liabilities in Pune district, included Rs 3.97 crores of land tax. The company had purchased 214 hectares of land without necessary permissions, the committee said. The PAC report also said that the mining department of the Pune Collector’s office, did not show any seriousness in recovery of mining royalty from Lavasa Corporation Ltd (LCL).
LCL, which manages the planned hill-town of Lavasa City, purchased 214 hectares of land worth Rs 4.23 crore, during October 2002 to February 2009. This land came under the Urban Land Ceiling (ULC) Act. “Not in a single case, did LCL have pre-permissions from the Pune Collector’s office to purchase ULC land,” the PAC said. The Collector’s office did collect a penalty of Rs 11.90 crores for some of these transactions, but the company still owed Rs 3.97 crores in nine cases, it said.
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The process of recovery started only after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) passed a stricture, so action should be taken against the responsible officers, it said.
“In the future, before granting permissions to projects submitted by a special project authority, it should be confirmed that the company has paid all the taxes,” the PAC said. It also noted that LCL excavated 8 lakh brass of `murum’ soil for construction, for which the government demanded Rs 15.05 crores as a royalty.
LCL’s challenge to the order was pending in the court, but the mining department was not showing any seriousness to recover the amount, the committee said, suggesting that a good lawyer be appointed to make the government’s case. The PAC also asked the Pune Collector to ensure fixing of the entertainment tax liability of LCL, for water games and other sports. LCL had not taken permissions for these activities, it pointed out.
By: Housing.com/news