AGARTALA, September 1 (TIWN): In yet another act of stubbornness, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar today said that the government would not reduce sales tax on aviation fuel in the state.
Replying to a question moved from the opposition benches in the ongoing monsoon session of Tripura state legislative assembly, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said that the flight operators were bound to deploy at least 10 percent of their entire fleet in the NE region as per policy laid down by the Government of India.“They are not doing us any favour by giving their carriers for use by customers of the region. The central policy states that the flight operators have to deploy at least 10 percent of their entire fleet in the NE region”, Sarkar said adding that the state government might consider the issue if the carriers provided specific assurance to lower passengers fare to the government.

Flight operators are steadily reducing flight frequencies and number of carriers connecting Agartala Airport with the rest of the country. Jet Airways pulled out their carriers from Agartala Airport as a part of their nationwide retreat and consolidation move following serious setback in the stock markets.

“Tripura is a poor state and we can’t let go of the revenue generated through sales tax of aviation fuel here”, he said.

A highly placed source in a private flight operator company said that many states of the NE Indian region including Mizoram doesn’t have any sales tax imposed on aviation fuel. It added that Tripura is the highest taxing state in the region for aviation fuel and one of the highest in the country.

The source informed that Dimapur Airport charged 18 percent sales tax on aviation fuel, Guwahati Airport – the highest air traffic generator in the region charged 20 percent on aviation fuel. The Netaji Subhash International Airport at Kolkata charge 20 percent sales tax on aviation fuel and Agartala Airport charges 22.9 percent tax of the fuel, it said.