Evasion of Goods and Services Tax (GST) to the tune of Rs 250 crores by nine mining firms, including two public sector undertakings, has been detected in Chhattisgarh, an official said on Saturday.
In August, the Central GST Raipur carried out an exercise to verify the payment of tax by these firms, which have been awarded contracts/license for mining activities in the state by the government.
An official communique from Joint Commissioner (Preventive) Shrawan Kumar Bansal said the firms are required to pay various charges and levies like royalty, District Mineral Fund charges, National Mineral Exploration Trust, Development Cess and Environment Cess to the government for exploring natural resources.
The verification revealed these firms were not paying GST on levies like Development Cess and Environment Cess, which amounts to tax evasion, the statement said.
So far, cases have been booked against nine major public and private sector mining companies.
Authorities in mineral-rich Odisha and Jharkhand have also been alerted to the possibility of similar tax evasion, the statement added.