Tax waiver for state stage carriage vehicles till Dec 31

Relief also extended to educational institution buses; move will cost exchequer ₹66 crore

CHANDIGARH: Punjab cabinet on Wednesday approved 100% exemption from Motor Vehicle (MV) tax for state stage carriage and educational institutions/ school/college buses till December 31, 2020, effective from March 23. The move, meant to support private operators amid the covid-19 pandemic, is expected to cost the state exchequer about Rs 66 crore.

The cabinet gave post-facto approval to the notification, issued in June, with Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh chairing Wednesday’s meeting through videoconfer

ence. The cabinet has also approved the extension of the Amnesty Scheme, deferring payment of arrears of taxes, without interest and penalty, to March 31, 2021. A cabinet spokesperson added ex-post facto approval has been given to notification dated June 1, 2020, reducing Motor Vehicle Tax of Stage Carriage Buses (ordinary buses) from Rs 2.8 to Rs 2.69 (per km/vehicle/ day). A similar procedure has been followed for private opera

tors and educational institutions.

Nod for innovation mission and fund

To boost the start-up ecosystem, Punjab Innovation Mission and Punjab Innovation Fund have been approved. Punjab Innovation Fund of Rs 150 crore is proposed to invest in start-ups in Punjab. The government will contribute a maximum of 10% (Rs 15 crore). This fund shall be managed by an asset management company with the first chairperson of the mission being Clix Capital chairman and Genpact founder Pramod Bhasin. He told the virtual cabinet meeting that he will raise the remaining Rs 135 crore investment.

The pillars of the Punjab Innovation Mission will be the Pollinator (connecting all stakeholders and incubators) and the Accelerator (Mentorship and Acceleration of start-ups). The mission will be sector-agnostic, but will focus on areas like agritech, food processing, healthcare, pharma, bio-technology etc. The government would support the operation of the mission and the fund by providing operational expenditure for first three years, estimated Rs 10 crore. The Mission would be set up at Kalkat Bhawan of Mandi Board at Mohali, where two floors (almost 12,000 sq ft ) will be provided along with access to all common facilities and shared space, on long-term ease, of at least 15 years.