Pune, July 12: The industries minister Leeladhar Dake announced that the water bills will will be charged as per the old rate till a final decision about the hike in water rates is taken. He has instructed MIDC to propose a sub-committee with representatives from the chambers, associations as members to consider the issue of hike in rates of water charges.Dake made these assurances to delegation of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Pune, led by P G Pawar, vice president of the chamber.
Representatives of the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Mumbai, Thane-Belapur Industrial Association and other chambers in Western Maharashtra also attended the meeting.
It may be recalled that the MIDC had hiked water charges by 50 to 60 per cent in all the major industrial estates last month. Industries had protested against this steep hike and sought a meeting with the minister to sort out this issue.
The minister has agreed to consult representatives of various chambers/associationsin Maharashtra while taking any decision pertaining to industries.
The delegation had suggested to the minister that water charges should be increased by 5 per cent every rather rather than arbitrarily announcing steep jumps in water charges. The industry also demanded sufficient notice before implementing amendments as had been done in the recent sales tax amendments which came into effect almost immediately.
The minister has agreed to five 15 days notice so that every affected person has prior knowledge about the changes.He has asked for a common memorandum on sales tax from industry for smoother functioning of of the sales tax department.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
