- Abhijit Nath, NET Correspondent, Tripura
Agartala, November 16, 2021 : Tripura cabinet on Tuesday announced the decision to charge one percent tax on Aviation Turbine Fuel at Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport in Agartala.
In a press conference organized in Agartala on Tuesday evening, the Information and Cultural Affairs minister (ICA) Sushanta Chowdhury asserted that the council of ministers today decided to deduct the VAT of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) from 16 percent to 1 percent.
“With this deduction of VAT on ATF, Tripura government will incur a loss of Rs 1.67 crore per annum. However, the government had earned a profit of 1.78 crore per annum”, – asserted Chowdhury.
“At present, West Bengal is charging VAT of Rs 25 percent, Assam is charging 23.65 percent. But, we are expecting that the number of airlines will land at Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport as the fuel tax has been deducted to 1 percent” – he added.
The ICA minister further claimed that “During the previous Leftist regime, 18 percent tax was imposed on aviation turbine fuel. BJP-led government curtailed 2 percent and fixed at 16 percent VAT of ATF in November 2018. Now, 15 percent more has been slashed”, he added.
Its worthy to note that construction & decoration processes of the Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport’s new terminal is on the verge of completion, and will soon be inaugurated.
Apart from this, the ICA minister also said that “Altogether, 61 posts have been created under the Law department of Tripura. In the District and Sessions Judge court of Khowai district, 53 posts have been created and are to fill up soon. For court number 5 in Tripura High Court, 8 posts have been created”.
He further added that among 29 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), a total of 16 spanning from India and abroad have been shortlisted for fulfilling basic needs in the School Education system across Tripura, which will stress on schools’ infrastructural development and educational quality.
