INDIA: Higher tax on fly ash bricks condemned

The Union Government's move to impose a higher tax of 12 per cent on fly ash bricks and 5 per cent on clay bricks is retrograde and contrary to the stated objectives of the Government, according to N. Kalidas, the Director of the Institute for Solid Waste Research and Ecological Balance (INSWAREB).

It is a Visakhapatnam-based private institute working for the promotion of eco-friendly fly ash bricks and is instrumental in the establishment of several fly ash brick manufacturing units in AP and Telangana.

Kalidas said that under the new GST regime Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had made the proposal to tax fly ash bricks at a higher rate. He said that it was generally agreed, even by the Government and the Supreme Court, that clay bricks were causing immense damage to the environment and therefore fly ash bricks should be encouraged. Therefore, the taxation policy should be in tune with the objective. In fact, clay bricks should attract higher tax than fly ash bricks and not the contrary.

Use of fly ash bricks would result in conservation of top soil, reduction of emissions and carbon footprints. Therefore, he pleaded, the Union Government should have a rethink on the critical issue and reverse its policy.

Source TheHinduBusinessLine