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CII welcomes imposition of LBT in Maharashtra and abolition of Octroi
Apr 10, 2013

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has welcomed imposition of Local Body Tax (LBT), which came into effect from 1st April 2013, in Thane, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Pimpri- Chinchwad municipal corporations. In effect, the State Government has formally abolished Octroi and replaced it with LBT. Mumbai will witness its introduction from 1st October 2013.

CII commends the State Government and especially the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Mr Prithviraj Chavan for taking this bold step. Over the years, CII has been raising the issue of abolition of Octroi during its various interactions with the State Government and this indeed is a great initiative which will certainly prove to be a game-changer in the coming years in the State.

Mr Ninad Karpe, Chairman, CII Maharashtra State Council and CEO & Managing Director, Aptech Ltd opined that “The book based taxation structure will help in easing out the issues of Octroi which are presently creating bottleneck for the industry in Maharashtra. The Local Body Tax replacing Octroi comes as a great relief to the industry and would certainly bring in transparency in tax collection and also reduce the physical burden of paying of taxes at the check nakas.”

Mr Ashwini Malhotra, Vice Chairman, CII Maharashtra State Council and Managing Director, Weikfield Foods added that “This will also reduce the delays that used to take place at the nakas which resulted in disruption in production and distribution schedules. Moreover the cost of collecting LBT will be significantly lower than Octroi and will require far less physical infrastructure, which in itself will translate into huge savings for the administration. There may be some apprehensions about the penal provisions but these can be discussed with the State Government to ensure further smooth implementation”. 

Mr S M Kulkarni, Convener, CII Maharashtra Finance and Taxation Panel and Vice President – Corporate Sales Tax, Mahindra & Mahindra said “Any new tax always has some teething problems as was witnessed when VAT was implemented in the State. Similarly, once adequate awareness has been created on the positives of LBT, we are sure this too would prove to be a game-changer. CII would be happy to organize awareness sessions for the Industry across the State on LBT for the benefit of the Industry, he added”.


11 April 2013, Mumbai.

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