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AP's bid to shore up village bodies: banana leaves, grass beams to be taxed

Banana leaves and grass beams, the most commonly utilised items in the rural areas, will now be taxed as part of the Andhra Pradesh government's efforts to improve the financial position of the gram panchayats, state Panchayat Raj Minister Kodela Sivaprasada Rao announced on Tuesday.

In a statement in Hyderabad, he said the government had issued orders, empowering the gram panchayats to levy tax kolagaram and katarusum on 13 commodities to augment their financial resources.

A tax ranging from 25 paise to Rs 5 would be levied, he added.

He said 25 paise would be levied as tax for 100 banana leaves and 450 gram of grass beams, while 50 paise would be levied for 100 eggs and equivalent number of all kinds of fruit.

Re 1 was fixed for a quintal of onion and all domestic birds (one or a pair).

The charge for each quintal of chillies and one thousand bricks or tiles was fixed at Rs 5 and Rs 2.50 on each quintal of turmeric and jaggery. The tax for 10 kg of cashewnuts and ghee (clarified butter) was fixed at Rs 1.50.

UNI

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Andhra Pradesh