New Delhi, Aug 8: Two new tax schemes - Suvidha and Sahayata (helpline - income-tax) - have been introduced with effect from August 1, 2000, minister of state for finance V Dhananjaya Kumar informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Kumar informed that Elders in a written reply that under `Suvidha' scheme all computerised branches of nationalised banks in 133 towns and cities have been authorised to receive direct tax payments from August 1, 2000. The scheme has also started functioning in Delhi as a focal point for bringing to the IT Department's notice urgent and serious problems of individual and corporate tax payers for immediate action. He said that the helpline would be would be extended to other stations in due course to make tax administration more tax-payee friendly as it would ultimately result in better tax compliance and increased revenue.Exports from Indian ports: Goods weighing 62.54 million tonnes were exported from India through sea ports during 1998-99, Union Minister of Surface Transport Rajnath Singh informed Elders. He said in a written reply to a question by Dasari Narayana Rao and Y Lakshmi Prasad that about 95 per cent of the import and export is routed through the sea ports.
Debt servicing liability: The government has decided to take the debt servicing liability for a $516 million loan approved recently by World Bank for projects to be implemented by NHAI, the minister said. He informed the Elders in response to written questions by Prem Chand Gupta (RJD) that in one case theADBhad agreed to directly lend $180 million.
Golden Quadrilateral: National Highway Development Project aimed at knitting together a mess of Expressways crisis crossing the country has not got bogged down by any controversy, Rajnath Singh said. The minister, who was responding to written questions by CM Ibrahim and Raju Parmar, said that the project consists of Golden Quadrilateral connecting four metropolitan cities of Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai and Mumbai, North-South Corridor, connecting Srinagar to Kanyakumari with Cochin-Salem section of National Highway 47 as spur, and East-West Corridor connecting Silchar to Saurashtra.
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