The Gujarat government has announced a relief package of Rs 14,000 crore.
Ahmedabad:
The Gujarat government announced Thursday a relief package of Rs14,000 crore to help revive the economy beaten by the foreclosure imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus, a measure that includes tax breaks for consumers and subsidies for businesses and traders.
The package aims to cover a large portion of people and businesses in Gujarat, one of the most industrialized states that has reported more than 18,500 cases of COVID-19 to date.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has given relief to various sections of society based on the recommendations of a committee chaired by former Union finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia.
“We had appointed the Hasmukh Adhia committee for the economic recovery of the state which submitted an interim report.
“The report has been discussed without discussion for the past four days and we have decided to announce” a package of Gujarat Atmanirbhar (self-contained) “of Rs 14,000 crore,” said Mr. Rupani.
“We have decided to relieve people of the payment of property tax, electricity bills and vehicle tax,” said Rupani.
Commercial establishments, businesses, offices, hotels, restaurants, stores, hospitals will receive a 20% discount on their annual property tax bills, while owners of residential properties will receive a 10% discount %, depending on package details.
This will give people a direct benefit up to Rs 744 crore.
Electricity consumers using less than 200 units per month will receive a discount up to the first 100 consumption units, which will cost Rs 200 crore to the public treasury, said the Prime Minister, adding that the state would give the amount to power companies.
Various discounts have been announced for commercial and industrial consumers of electricity. While private buses, jeeps and taxis benefited from a reduction in the payment of road tax and tax for six months due to the blockage.
The total relief for property tax, electricity and vehicle tax amounts to Rs 2300 crore, depending on the package.
The government has announced a subsidy for various industries amounting to Rs 3,038 crore, while the Rs 458-crore relief has been granted to GIDC (Gujarat Industrial Development Corp) for the promotion of industries.
In order to revive the housing sector, the government announced Rs 1000 crore.
The government has stated that it will provide an interest subsidy on loans of 4 percent for loans up to Rs 2.5 lakh for business and store owners.
Of the 8% interest rate, 4% will have to be paid by the borrower, while the rest will be paid by the government.
The government has allocated Rs 525 crore for the loan interest subsidy.
It has allocated Rs 466 crore for labor welfare, which includes benefits of Rs 35,000 to each tribal worker who works in different parts of the state and wants to build a house in his hometown.
The other benefits are Rs 5,044 crore which include the free ration to poor families during the lockout period and the direct transfer of Rs 1,000 into their accounts.
The government has also decided to allocate 100 crore rupees to the health department and another crore 100 rupees to four municipal companies – Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot – of the Chief Relief Relief Fund to fight the new coronavirus.
