Clearance for SEZ near Hubli may be given soon

Source: The Hindu

The Union Government is considering giving clearance for the setting up of a special economic zone (SEZ) on information technology and IT-enabled services at Gamanagatti near Hubli.

Assurance given

An assurance in this regard has been given by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma when Dharwad MP Pralhad Joshi met him in New Delhi recently.

In a release issued here, Mr. Joshi said that the Union Minister gave this assurance when they met during the budget session recently.

It might be recalled that the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) is developing 12.15 hectares of land at Gamanagatti for a SEZ.

Mr. Joshi said that the proposal had been pending before the Union Government for the last two years.

He said that the SEZ Board of Approval of the Union Ministry of Commerce had approved the proposal at its meeting held on May 31, 2011. However, the Home Ministry's approval was essential and therefore the final approval was getting delayed.

He said that he had requested Mr. Sharma to exempt the SEZ in Hubli from getting approval from the Home Ministry and Mr. Sharma had assured him that he would issue the notification approving the SEZ soon.

[Hubli] Aayakar Seva Kendra to ease taxpayers' woes

Source: The Hindu

With the Income Tax Department setting up ‘Aayakar Seva Kendra' (ASK) here, the city has become one of 60 cities across the country to have such a facility.

Hubli is the third city in the State after Bangalore and Mangalore to have this facility, which aims to address the grievances of taxpayers at the earliest.

The ASK has been set up on the premises of the Income Tax Office at Navanagar here. It has begun operations and has been catering for the needs of taxpayers since the last few days.

Modernisation

According to B.L. Meena, Commissioner of Income Tax, Hubli, the initiative is part of modernisation programmes nationwide, such as e-filing of returns, e-payment of taxes, centralised processing of returns, online tax accounting system and refund banker scheme, for the convenience of tax payers.

Terming it a “milestone”, Mr. Meena said: “Aayakar Seva Kendra is a computerised, single-window system for taxpayers for delivery of services in a time-bound manner, as promised by the Income Tax Department in its Citizens Charter published in 2007.”

Facilities

The official said the kendra was user friendly.

All applications including income tax returns would be processed here, and system-generated acknowledgement numbers issued for easy monitoring of applications.

“The kendra's ultimate aim is to promote and encourage voluntary compliance through providing better taxpayer services,” Mr. Meena added.