Govt offers spl tax benefit for Barapukuria Coal
Thursday, 28 October 2010
Doulot Akter Mala
The government has offered Barapukuria Coal Mining Company (BCMCL) special tax benefit until 2011 for import of capital machinery to expedite and facilitate extraction of coal.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has waived advance income tax on import of machinery by the state-owned company for one year.
The tax exemption wing of the income tax department has offered the benefit recently to the BMCL as per proposal of the energy ministry.
"We have found the state-owned company struggling with poor financial condition. Revenue board has offered the benefit to help the entity extract coal at low cost," said Aminul Karim, who heads the tax exemption and appellate division.
The board wants to encourage exploration and extraction of alternative energy resources to overcome the country's acute energy crisis, he said.
"We are trying to facilitate state-owned entity to find and extract the alternative energy resources rather than depend on foreign companies," the income tax member said.
The BMCL was enjoying the tax waiver that expired on June 2010.
The energy ministry has sought all kinds of tax waiver until June 2015 as the BMCL is incurring losses.
Energy secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin in a letter to the NBR sought the tax waiver on import of capital machinery.
"Until June 2009, the debt liabilities of the BMCL stood at Tk 10.32 billion, which includes Tk 3.35 billion as suppliers' credit from CMC, the Chinese contractor," he wrote in the letter.
The BCML has been paying installment of suppliers' loan in every six months, which will continue until 2012, he said.
The company is scheduled to resume the second phase of coal production by the end of the current year, which will require fresh investment to buy new equipments and repair existing ones, the energy secretary said.
"The company is incurring losses as it is supplying coal at lower cost to Power Development Board (PDB)," he wrote.
The energy secretary expressed his doubt over achieving the coal production target in 2010-11 as it has to suspend coal extraction after an accident in May last.
"The company has to carry out maintenance and other expenses even when there is no production. This weakens its financial condition," he wrote.
Currently, a power plant with 250 megawatt (MW) capacity runs on Barapukuria coal.
The government has offered Barapukuria Coal Mining Company (BCMCL) special tax benefit until 2011 for import of capital machinery to expedite and facilitate extraction of coal.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has waived advance income tax on import of machinery by the state-owned company for one year.
The tax exemption wing of the income tax department has offered the benefit recently to the BMCL as per proposal of the energy ministry.
"We have found the state-owned company struggling with poor financial condition. Revenue board has offered the benefit to help the entity extract coal at low cost," said Aminul Karim, who heads the tax exemption and appellate division.
The board wants to encourage exploration and extraction of alternative energy resources to overcome the country's acute energy crisis, he said.
"We are trying to facilitate state-owned entity to find and extract the alternative energy resources rather than depend on foreign companies," the income tax member said.
The BMCL was enjoying the tax waiver that expired on June 2010.
The energy ministry has sought all kinds of tax waiver until June 2015 as the BMCL is incurring losses.
Energy secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin in a letter to the NBR sought the tax waiver on import of capital machinery.
"Until June 2009, the debt liabilities of the BMCL stood at Tk 10.32 billion, which includes Tk 3.35 billion as suppliers' credit from CMC, the Chinese contractor," he wrote in the letter.
The BCML has been paying installment of suppliers' loan in every six months, which will continue until 2012, he said.
The company is scheduled to resume the second phase of coal production by the end of the current year, which will require fresh investment to buy new equipments and repair existing ones, the energy secretary said.
"The company is incurring losses as it is supplying coal at lower cost to Power Development Board (PDB)," he wrote.
The energy secretary expressed his doubt over achieving the coal production target in 2010-11 as it has to suspend coal extraction after an accident in May last.
"The company has to carry out maintenance and other expenses even when there is no production. This weakens its financial condition," he wrote.
Currently, a power plant with 250 megawatt (MW) capacity runs on Barapukuria coal.