Liquid bulk importers upset with Mumbai port norms

The rampant sales tax evasion by edible oil importers from outside Mumbai due to the high state sales tax in the city is expected to cost the government over Rs 5 crore in lost revenue.

The All India Liquid Bulk Importers and Exporters Association (AILBIEA) said today it would make a presentation to the state sales tax commissioner in the next few weeks on the issue and suggest that the tax be reduced from 4 per cent currently levied.

"This will ensure a certain level of compliance and also not hurt the interests of the larger players in the industry who face steep rise in expenditure," said Jayant Lapsia, president of AILBIEA.

The association pointed out that edible oils were in short supply and imports were around 40-50 lakh tonnes yearly.

It would also like the "N Form" facility to be made available at Mumbai Port to ease handling of transit cargo. High octroi duties were also pinching the business, he added.

There had been a decline in trade volumes handled through Mumbai port over the last few years because of steps taken by statutory bodies, according to the association.

The fall occurred despite the fact that liquid bulk cargo volumes had expanded rapidly at the national level and was currently over 25 million tonne, Lapsia pointed out. Traffic at Mumbai port declined from 20.3 million tonne a decade ago, to 17 million tonne in 2002-2003.

Stamp duty on documents, which was levied only in Maharashtra, and the cess levied by the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) on edible oils, were to blame for this, he said.

"The customs EDI takes over a week to process the bill of entry, when it was earlier done in half a day," claimed Lapsia.

This in turn was causing difficulty in filing of Cenvat claims.