NASHIK: The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC), in a major relief to the industries, has reintroduced the industrial slab in property tax.
The civic administration has started implementing the order of the former NMC chief Ashok Karanjkar issued on Sept 20 last year. As part of this, the property tax rates for the industries have been revised from Rs44/sqmt per month to Rs13.2/sqmt per month.
According to the Nashik Industries & Manufacturers’ Association (NIMA), the new decision will give relief to around 1,000 industries that went for expansion or set up new plants after April 1, 2018.
There are two industrial estates of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) — Satpur and Ambad — located in the jurisdiction of the municipal corporation. The NMC recovers property tax from these industries. In 2018, the then municipal chief Tukaram Mundhe had levied property tax for new industrial units and those undertaking expansion at the commercial rate rather than the prevailing industrial rate, which impacted around 1,000 units.
Earlier, there were three slabs for property tax — residential, industrial, and commercial. But Mundhe removed the industrial slab and kept only two slabs – residential and commercial. As a result, the property tax rates for the new industries were levied as per the commercial rate.
While the industrial rate of property tax was around Rs5/sqmt, the new industrial units (which came after April 2018) had to pay Rs44/sqmt.
Industries had been opposing the decision for the past many years and also took up the issue with the state industry minister Uday Samant.
When contacted, NMC’s deputy commissioner (Taxation) Ajit Nikat said the industrial slab has been revived and the property tax rates for the new industrial properties which came up after April 2018 have been revised as per the industrial rate.
“The assessment of the property tax of these new industrial properties has been started by the NMC, and the property tax is to be levied on the new industrial properties as per the industrial rates,” he said.
General body approves Rs15 crore road works
The General Body of Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) on Tuesday gave its nod to various road works proposals worth Rs 15 crore during the meeting. Moreover, the proposal of the civic administration to procure nine trucks at the cost of Rs 1.75 crore was also approved. NMC Commissioner Manisha Khatri gave approval to various proposals of the civic administration during the GB meeting.
