Monday, March 21 2005 16:00 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Ranchi: The Jharkhand Government will implement the Value Added Tax (VAT) in the State only when it is implemented uniformly in all the other States, Chief Minister Arjun Munda said today (Mar 21, 2005).

"VAT will not be implemented in Jharkhand unless it is uniformly implemented in all the other States at one time. If that cannot be done, then VAT will have no meaning," Munda said at the airport in Ranchi on his arrival from Delhi.

He claimed that some States like Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have not yet passed VAT-related legislations in their respective Assemblies.

Stating that he had gone to Delhi to discuss the issue of VAT implementation with National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders, the Chief Minister said, that their needs to be more transparency in the VAT-related laws so that traders and the industries get to know its advantages and drawbacks.

In its second cabinet meeting, the Munda Government deferred the implementation of VAT, saying that it was yet to draft the related legislations.

The federation of Jharkhand chambers of commerce and industries has called a one-day trade bandh in the State on March 30 in protest against the Centre's move to implement VAT from April one.