Water tax to the tune of Rs832 crores has not been paid by 47 industrial units of the State till February 20, 2015. A number of industrial units have been issued demand notice, said Water Resources Minister Brijmohan Agrawal in Chhattisgarh Assembly on Tuesday. In a written reply filed to a question by BJP member Devjibhai Patel, Agrawal stated that water tax is recovered from the industrial units according to different rates.
The major industrial units which owe water tax include Essar Steel with pending tax of Rs61.28 lakh, NMDC Bailadila (Rs64.01 lakh), NMDC Nagarnar (Rs50.31 lakh), GMR Energy (Rs67.61 lakh), Jaiswal Nico (Rs1.13 crores), Monet Ispat (Rs5.52 crores), CSIDC Siltara (Rs8.51 crores), Sarda Energy (Rs85.97 lakh), SKS Ispat (Rs51.22 lakh), South Asian Agro (Rs67.01 lakh), Bhilai Steel Plant (Rs11.98 crores), NSPCl Puraina (Rs12.69 lakh), CSIDC Borai (Rs24.43 crores), NTPC Darri (Rs5.94 crores), NTPC Sipat (Rs11.02 crores) and others.
The Minister stated in the reply that notices have been issued to most of the industrial units for payment of water tax. The Bhilai Steel Plant has cleared all the bills on March 10, 2015. NSPCl was issued a bill of Rs12.59 crores by the Executive Engineer which will be adjusted in the advance water amount of Rs110 crores by the end of the year.