The Supreme Court has allowed the claim of infrastructure developer Lanco Infratech Ltd to get back Rs 175 crore as income-tax reimbursement for its subsidiary firm Lanco Kondapalli Power Ltd (LKPL) for the financial years 2001 to 2012.
The apex court dismissed the appeals filed by Andhra Pradesh Power Coordination Committee and state discoms against the order of Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) which had accepted the electricity generating firm's claim of minimum alternate tax (MAT) for the power purchase agreement it had with the government.
The Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) had earlier allowed the company to claim MAT for the period 2006-09 but not for 2001-05 on ground of limitation.
However, Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) passed an order on July 2, 2012 and reversed the Commission's findings on limitation.
Upholding the orders of APTEL and APERC in favour LKPL, the apex court said, "We find no scope to interfere with the impugned order in these appeals. The appeals are dismissed but without any order as to costs."
Lanco is engaged in generation and sale of electricity with its registered office at Hyderabad.
The objective of levying MAT, as declared by Income Tax Department, is to bring into the tax net "Zero Tax Companies" which inspite of having earned substantial book profits and having paid handsome dividends, do not pay any tax due to various tax concessions and incentives provided under the Income Tax Law.
