Friday, May 24, 2013: Maharashtra chief minister, Prithviraj Chavan today assured the Federation of Associations of Maharashtra (FAM) that the state government would not enforce the LBT (Local Body Tax) in Mumbai in haste. While speaking with FAM president, Mohan Gurnani over phone, Chavan said, the decision of not imposing LBT in haste has been taken and the government would prefer to wait as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is not yet ready to implement LBT.
Gurnani told that the FAM has been invited to participate in a discussion with the chief Minister on 23 May to review issues related to the new tax. However, FAM has decided to meet CM on 24 May along with Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.
Earlier, Maharashtra government had said that it would enforce LBT in place of octroi from April 1 this year across Maharashtra and from October 1 in Mumbai city. However, state witnessed a strong resentment against LBT from its trading community.
On the other hand, certain section of traders agreed to end their ongoing protest against the LBT on Monday night after meeting Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. “Traders in Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, Navi Mumbai and Thane have announced that they are calling off the stir, following discussions with the CM,” told an official spokesperson. While a Congress leader from Pune congratulated the chief minister for resolving the LBT tangle.
