Punjab to tap wind energy
Phagwara: As power shortage assumes serious proportions the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) has drawn up an ambitious project to tap wind energy.

Three companies Enercon India, Suzlon Energy and a US-based company have shown interest in setting up projects in the State said Vijay Inder Singla, chairman, PEDA.

German company Enercon has a 40 per cent market share in power generation in its home country, whereas Suzlon Energy is a Minnesota-based company that has set-up such projects in Maharashtra. The state has been planned the project in two phases. In the first phase, potential of the wind speed will be gauged while in the second phase, turbines will be installed and electricity generated, he added.

The state government has finalised four districts for the project - Nawanshahr, Gurdaspur, Ropar and Hoshiarpur. The PEDA will sign the MoU after looking at the modalities offered by the interested companies.
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Railways to upgrade stations in metros
New Delhi: Railway terminals in New Delhi, Mumbai (Chattrapati Shivaji station), Kolkata, and Chennai may soon look like airports, complete with separate arrival and departure lounges, shopping malls, and a high-tech electronic queue management system for passengers.

Rail Bhawan officials said the railways plan to construct additional floors at the railway stations, which will be leased out to companies to run mini-theatres, shopping malls, restaurants and food plazas.

The detailed plan to convert these four stations into mega-terminals is expected to be put up before the Railway Board soon.
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UP makes budgetary allocation of Rs900-cr for agri loans
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Government has budgeted Rs900 crore for disbursement of agricultural loans to farmers in the current financial year 2006-07. The total allocation would cover loan for agricultural purposes, loan to procure farm equipment and loan under other related schemes.

Senior banking officials said Rs783 crore worth of last year's outstanding dues had been collected this fiscal till June 15, which overshot the target. They said 72,896 farmers had benefited from 'Samadhan Yojna', under which a debtor makes a subsidised lump sum payment against the total loan amount.
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Octroi to be removed in Punjab from Sept 1; no new taxes levied
Chandigarh: The state government of Punjab has decided to abolish octroi in the state. The decision will be applicable from September 1 and no new taxes will be levied to compensate for the expected Rs645 crore loss of revenue. However, octroi on electricity, petrol, diesel and liquor will continue to be levied and will bring in Rs101 crore.

The 500 octroi collection barriers across the state would be removed from September 1. The financial loss caused to the municipal bodies due to the abolition of octroi would be met by segregating a part of the collections made from value added tax into a specially set up Municipal Development Fund, which would be operated by the department of Local Government.

The government was expected to collect Rs5,500 crore through VAT this year as against the target of Rs4,600 crore, an increase of over Rs900 crore.
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MRP on drugs to include all taxes from Oct 2
New Delhi: The government has issued an amended Drug Prices Control Order, 1995, according to which all pharmaceutical companies have to sell drugs at a maximum retail price, inclusive of all taxes from October 2 this year. The maximum retail price will include local taxes, excise duty, sales tax or value-added tax.

Till now, drugs were the only packaged commodity to have local taxes added to the retail price, often leading to confusion between consumers and chemists. After October 2, when the order comes into force, drugs will be sold at a uniform price as per the label across the country.

According to the amended rule — Drugs (Price Control) Amendment Order, 2006 — pharmaceutical companies will have to print "maximum retail price inclusive of all taxes" on packaged medicines.

The Indian Pharmaceutical Association and Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association, have been protesting against the move as the tax regime is not uniform in the country.

Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have still not switched over to the value-added tax (VAT). These states still charge sales tax. This, along with recalls, would make the industry incur losses to the tune of Rs500 crore a year, the associations had pointed out.
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