CHANDIGARH: In a bid to give impetus to investment promotion in the state under the ‘Progressive Punjab Campaign’, the Punjab Cabinet today approved the establishment of the Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion (PBIP) to carry forward the new investment policy of 2013 expeditiously in a time bound manner. 

A decision to this effect was taken here at a meeting of the Cabinet chaired by Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal this afternoon. Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the bureau would have a Board of Governors (BoGs), an executive committee and a chief executive officer to discharge its functions.  The BoGs of the PBIP as its apex governing body would be chaired by the Chief Minister while the Deputy Chief Minister/Minister in charge Investment Promotion department would be its co-chairman besides Industries Minister as its vice chairman.  The other members of the Bureau would include six Cabinet Ministers, Chief Secretary and other concerned Secretaries,   besides the Chief Executive Officer as its member-secretary. 

Apart from these, three technical experts and five representatives of trade, industry and commerce would be nominated by the state government.  The BoGs being an apex body for all matter relating to the bureau would be responsible for approving its regulations and procedures and allocating such functions to the Executive Committee and the Chief Executive Officer which were not otherwise specified.  The Executive Committee comprising of important administrative secretaries would be chaired by the Chief Secretary. 

In order to provide opportunity to those dealers who have defaulted in paying VAT, bonafide or otherwise while submitting their returns and paying the tax but were apprehensive about the stringent penal provisions and undue harassment, the cabinet gave a go ahead to Excise & Taxation department’s ‘Voluntary Disclosure Scheme’.  This scheme open until December 31, 2013 would offer an opportunity to dealers to rectify their mistakes and cover those taxable persons who have claimed the Input Tax Credit, but the tax has not actually been paid into the state treasury on the goods so purchase. 

This scheme will also cover the taxable persons who have claimed concessional rate of tax claiming branch transfer/interstate trade, but actually the goods were not sent outside the state, the taxable persons who have submitted statutory forms for claiming concessional rate, but the same are not proper and genuine and the taxable persons who have claimed zero rated sales on account of exports but either the exports have not taken place or they are over-invoiced.   The dealer will undertake to deposit the correct/actual tax due along with 1.5% interest from the day the tax was due.  The designated officer will calculate the tax due and inform the applicant within 30 days.  These dealers will pay 25% of the tax due plus interest within a month.  The dealer may pay the balance 75% amount also within this period of 30 days.  If a dealer has any cash flow problems, he may deposit the balance amount in three quarterly installments bearing interest of 1% per month.  But the dealers under investigations or whose premises had been already inspected will not be covered under this scheme.

The Cabinet also gave approval to the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Rules 2013 formulated by the state  Social Security Development of Women & Children department to take care of overall development of children residing in children homes, observation homes, juvenile homes, state after care homes, special homes, home for mentally retarded children etc in the state.  These rules would help in physical, social, psychological, mental and social cultural development of the special children (mentally challenged, visually challenged, deaf and dumb children and children affected by natural abnormality) and children in the need of care and protection as these rules describe and provide guidelines not only for providing basic facilities like food, clothing, health, hygiene, entertainment to the children in these homes but will also make environment of these homes full of love, affection and emotionally secured.