BJP targets Centre on Himachal, Uttarakhand excise duty

BJP targets Centre on Himachal, Uttarakhand excise duty

The UPA government’s decision to discontinue the excise duty exemption for industries in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh has pitted the BJP and the Centre against each other once again. For the BJP, which has been accusing the Centre of bias against NDA-ruled states, the issue has become yet another weapon to attack the ruling Congress.

On Wednesday, a high-level BJP delegation led by L K Advani, the Leaders of the Opposition in Parliament, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, with the CMs of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding revival of the special industrial package for the hill states — introduced by the

Vajpayee government in 2002.

“We did not ask for anything new but restoration of the package which was withdrawn... The two states have their unique set of problems. They are hill states which need assistance for development,” Swaraj said. The area-based exemptions expired on March 31 after the Centre decided to bring GST from next year.