PORVORIM: Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao has alleged that out of Rs 237 crores collected by Goa Government by way of Green Cess, Rs 190 crores has been paid by the Petroleum companies. Whereas only Rs 47 crores has been collected from the coke and coal crony capitalists.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant staunchly defended his government position saying that coal transportation was started by the Congress government and that the Cess had been imposed by the Manohar Parrikar BJP government. He said that as per the Supreme Court Direction, 50% of the Cess had been collected amounting to Rs 297 odd crores and there was a balance of Rs 98 crores.
Leader of Opposition disagreed with the chief minister and said the demand was Rs 352 crores, the tax collected was Rs 237 cores and the balance was Rs 114 crores. He stated that the government records show that the demand on green cess from Vedanta, was zero, while Adani has paid on Rs 1.47 crore out of a demand of Rs 6 crores. The cess paid by South Western Port, Zindal, JSW was Zero.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant reiterated that 50% of the cess was collected and that direction were issued on 31st January 2025 by the New and Renewable Energy department to the Sales tax Department to collect the remaining demand.
Yuri however contended that at the rate of Rs 22000 per metric ton the total cess demand at the rate of 2% is Rs 8125 crore.
There were an uproar and noisy scenes in the house on the last day of the two day assembly session with the Opposition demanding an inquiry into the Cess Scam. They also demanded to know why the cess was not used for health benefits and why the money was spent on infrastructure. Various members of the Opposition demanded an inquiry into the manner in which the green cess was spent.