The chief minister has also announced VAT (value-added tax) waiver for shoes that cost up to Rs 300. VAT on shoes whose price is up to Rs 500 have also been reduced from 11.5 per cent to 4 per cent, which is a big relief for the leather industry.
Though Mayawati made these announcement at a rally in Agra on Tuesday, the state cabinet had cleared the proposals in its meeting last week. The announcement was delayed because the model code of conduct was enforced in the state due to the by-elections in three assembly segments and two parliament seats.
According to the directives of the chief minister, the wholesale market for shoe will be set up by the government only with all the facilities for the traders.
The state cabinet has cleared the proposal of waiving VAT on shoes costing upto Rs 300 alongwith the work book used by the school going children. The shoe makers of Agra and Kanpur were demanding this VAT waiver since long and has also met the Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in January.
Rahul, after meeting the shoe makers of Agra and Kanpur had asked the Uttar Pradesh government to waive VAT on cheap leather items. However, now the Mayawati government has taken some steps to provide relief to the leather industry in the state.
As per the announcement, the leather park in Agra would be set up very soon and for this 250 acres would be acquired.
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The state government has decided to release Rs 100 crore for the development of the park where state-of-the-art facilities would be made available. It may be mentioned that UP, the last state to implement VAT from January this year has reduced trade tax on 463 items, while tax on 1376 items remains unchanged.