VAT not to be implemented immediately in TN

As industries have intensified their pleas, the Tamil Nadu minister for electricity and rural industries Arcot Veerasamy today said it might be some time before the Value Added Tax (VAT) system is introduced in the state.

At at a seminar on "immediate requirements of the SSI sector," Veersamy said in his address that one of the demands put forth by the SSIs was the implementation of VAT.

"We are facing resistance from a lot of small traders. We will not be able to implement VAT immediately and we are not 'foreclosing' this issue," he said.

The Tamil Nadu chief minister would consider this issue, as he was keen on making the state a premier one in the country, the minister said.

Policy, taxation,credit, marketing and technology were the major problems, were the five main problems of the SSI sector, Jawahar Sircar, additional secretary and DC (SSI), union government said.

Of this, technology was the major one. "Technology, economy of scale, type and mode of production, scale of production will decide what will stay in the SSI sector and what will not, " he added.