After announcing a steep hike in taxes, tariffs and service fees in various sectors in the past two weeks, the cash-strapped Kerala Government on Wednesday decided to hike the fair value of land in the State by 50 per cent with the goal of bringing in an additional Rs 500 crore annually to the Exchequer from stamp duty, registration and other processes related to land transactions.
The proposal for hiking the fair value of land, fixed several years ago, had come up at the meetings of the Cabinet on September 17 and 24 but it was postponed as extensive discussions were to be held on the subject. With this, the total addition to the Exchequer from tax hikes and other measures is expected to be Rs 2,800 crore.
A meeting of the Congress-led UDF Cabinet on Wednesday also decided not to make any downward revision in the hike in stamp duty for land transactions and registration fees brought in as per a decision of September 17. Sources said that Finance Minister KM Mani had proposed a downward revision but Chief Minister Oommen Chandy firmly opposed it.
The Cabinet also decided to pass a law for banning or controlling plastics and flex signs. Briefing newsmen on the decisions of the Cabinet meeting in Thiruvananthapuram, Chief Minister Chandy said that all flex boards currently on display in the State would be removed during the Cleanliness Week to be observed from Gandhi Jayanti day, on Thursday.
The flex boards put up with the approval of the local administration bodies would have to be removed after the expiry of the approval. local bodies would be asked not to grant permission for new flex boards or to give extension for permissions, he said. “The first boards to be removed will be those of the Chief Minister and other Ministers,” Chandy said.
In a bid to provide some relief to the rubber growers who were having a tough time due to the price slump of natural rubber, the Cabinet decided to use as much rubber-modified bitumen as possible in the construction of roads. The State Public Works Department had been given an instruction in this regard, the Chief Minister said.
Chandy said that he would examine why the Ordinance for hiking the tax on India-made foreign liquor was getting delayed amidst reports that State Governor P Sathasivam was yet to accord his approval to it. Asked whether this delay was because of the court case related to closure of bars, he said, “There is no relation between the court case and the liquor tax hike Ordinance.”
Meanwhile, most of the tax, tariff and fee hikes announced by the Cabinet on September 17 and 24 for overcoming the current financial crisis came into force on Wednesday. The hikes would be felt in land taxes, plantation taxes, water tariff, etc while the 20 percent additional tax imposed on liquor and the eight-percent tax hike on cigarettes would become effective only later.
As per the new water tariff plan in the State, consumers using more than 15,000 litres of water a month will have to pay increased charges. Every kilolitre of water between 15,000 and 20,000 litres will cost Rs 6 instead of the earlier Rs 4. Between 20,000 litres and 25,000 litres this will be Rs 7 and every kilolitre thereafter up to 30,000 litres will cost Rs 9.
At the same time, Excise Minister K Babu announced the list of the 39 retail liquor outlets which were effectively closed down on Tuesday night as part of the plan to close down 10 percent of the total outlets every year to attain the goal of total liquor ban by October 2, 2023. With this, the number of retail liquor outlets in the State would come down to 345 from 384.