Owners of illegal structures to pay

The state cabinet has approved a proposal to amend the law governing municipal corporations and municipal councils which will levy heavy fine on the unauthorised structures. However, Mumbai has been excluded from the amendment.

Elaborating on the cabinet decision, a senior official from the urban development ministry said, the owner of unauthorised structures will have to pay the fine which will be 200 per cent of the property tax. This is besides the property tax the person will have to pay till the structure exists.

The bill amending the municipal corporation and council law will be introduced in the monsoon session of the assembly.

This will cover cities like Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad among other cities where municipal corporation exists and in smaller towns like Icchalkarnji, Ratnagiri, Jalana, Karahad, Baramati and other towns.

Replying to a query, he said, "The issue of shifting from the rateable value system of property tax to capital value system in Mumbai is presently pending before the state government and that's why Mumbai has been excluded and once we decide on this issue, the new amendment will become applicable to Mumbai also.

Meanwhile, the state cabinet also cleared the proposals of the Hindustan Infrastructure Project and Engineering and Earnest Shipping and Ship Builders for developing the Radey and Vijaydurg Port at Sindhudurg district on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis.

It is expected that the cost of developing the Vijaydurg port will be just over Rs 1,000 crore and Radey port, around Rs 995 core. Once completed, the two ports will handle the cargo of 75 million tons and 32 million tons respectively.

The cabinet also approved the proposal of the finance ministry to make necessary changes to the sales tax rules applicable to drugs after implementing VAT.

From now onwards, VAT will be collected at the price manufacturer sells to the wholesaler or the wholesaler to retailer and so on, instead of charging it on the maximum retail price (MRP) to manufacturer.