Stampede: Guj govt passes blames Junagadh civic body

Gandhinagar, Feb 28  2012

Already in the dock over a stampede in which seven devotees were killed at a Mahashivratri fair at Bhavnath temple in Junagadh earlier this month, the Gujarat government today sought to pass on the blame to the civic body for the tragedy. Narendra Modi government has been under attack from the opposition Congress for not making adequate arrangements for the fair where tens of thousands of pilgrims had gathered on Mahashivratri day. "We had released a grant of Rs 5 crore to Junagadh Municipal Corporation around two years ago for widening the bridge there...It is unfortunate that the work was not completed," Minister of Urban Development Nitin Patel told the state assembly. "Had the width of the bridge been increased the tragedy could had been averted," he said while replying to a question from a Congress MLA. Seven persons, including three women and two children, were trampled to death in the stampede that took place on night of February 19. However, the Opposition Leader Shaktisinh Gohil alleged that it was mis-management on part of the state government which led to the tragedy in which precious lives were lost. Following the incident, the state government had constituted an inquiry panel headed by the additional chief secretary Varun Mayra. The state government had also announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the family of the deceased.

Companies which owe more than Rs1 crore in VAT

Feb 28, 2012

Close to 350 firms, including some of the leading corporates, owe in excess of Rs12,500 crore as outstanding Value Added Tax (VAT) dues to the state government, figures provided in the state assembly show.

The amount includes the pending sales tax dues of Rs8,277 crore which Essar Oil Limited owes to the state government. Essar Oil has approached Supreme Court in the matter.

In a written reply to a question by Porbandar MLA Arjun Modhwadia, finance minister Vaju Vala said there were 344 firms each of which owed more than Rs1 crore in VAT dues to the state government. “The total amount for these 344 firms works out to the tune of Rs12,520 crore,” Vala said. Modhwadia had sought details of firms and units that owe VAT dues of Rs1 crore or more.

Besides Essar Oil, the companies which owe more than Rs1 crore in VAT dues include Reliance Industries, Adani Enterprises, ONGC, ABB Limited, Biotor, Essar Steel, Welspun India, Dishman Pharma, Pepsico India (Holdings), Saurashtra Cement and Asian Paints. Vala informed that steps had been initiated under Gujarat Sales Tax Act, Gujarat VAT Act and Land Revenue Act to recover the outstanding dues.

Ahmedabad is home to 103 of these firms, followed by Valsad with 47, Kutch with 30, Vadodara 28, Surat 22, Bhavnagar 20 and Rajkot 15. Vala also said that the recovery was not being made on account of various reasons due to stay orders, proceedings before Debt Recovery Tribunal, BIFR, or companies going into liquidation, among others.