FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT   New Delhi, Nov. 7:  The Centre today asked state governments to rationalise entertainment tax and bring it down to a level of “not more than 60 per cent”. Currently, entertainment tax rates in the country vary between 21 per cent and 100 per cent. The rate of tax in West Bengal is 70 per cent. Union information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj told state information ministers that the Centre felt this will not cut into their revenues but actually shore up states’ coffers because increase in sales of tickets for entertainment programmes will yield more funds. However, an experiment on these lines tried out by the Haryana government recently has not enthused states much. Haryana brought down entertainment tax from 125 per cent to 50 per cent in July this year. In the first three months after the rationalisation, Haryana’s collections on this head were Rs 90 lakh, Rs 78 lakh and Rs 71 lakh. Haryana’s average monthly collection last year was Rs 75 lakh. Swaraj told representatives of industry at a conference organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) that the Centre cannot force states to lower entertainment tax rates. Industry spokesmen say even the 60 per cent proposed by Sushma Swaraj was steep and could retard the growth of the sector that a Ficci-Arthur Anderson study predicts could yield a turnover of Rs 32,000 crore in five years (up from Rs 10,000 crore in 2000). “I would say the ceiling should be at 25 per cent,” said Amit Khanna of Reliance Entertainment, who also heads the Ficci entertainment committee. Swaraj said states should consider an appeal by the industry to bring entertainment into the concurrent list from the state list, implying that the Centre and the states will have an equal say in the promotion of the sector. This is not the first time the industry has raised such a demand but states have not been keen on the move for reasons both social and economic. But Swaraj signalled that she was open to the idea. “Both the Centre and the states will have to assume the role of facilitators to encourage the entertainment sector. The entertainment industry itself wants to be on the concurrent list,” she said. Swaraj advised industry to ensure that a lowering of entertainment tax rates — if it comes about — does not mean a glut of sub-standard products. “I understand that after the September 11 attack, even Hollywood production houses are reworking scripts. I ask the entertainment industry, should we allow our television channels and films to bombard our children with scenes of violence?” The Ficci conference was the beginning of a powerful lobbying exercise by the industry before the Centre and the states embark on their budget-making exercise for next year. It also marked the launch of a new industry association — the Event Management Association of India — a Ficci-affiliated body of companies managing live entertainment who “put the business into showbiz”.