A beautified stretch near Regional Museum of Natural History in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, June 11:With an array of ministers and MLAs on their side, councillors of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation called for a collective effort to boost the tax base and demanded Rs 350 crore in a year as octroi tax compensation at the inaugural meeting of the council today.

Streamlining of the holding tax collection and gradual shift to property tax, request to the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) to include individual apartments as new holdings, polythene ban, beautification and creation of a BMC corpus fund from the profit generated from a housing project also dominated the discussions.

Housing and urban development minister Pushpendra Singh Deo assured that the state government would consider the revision in the octroi tax compensation and enactment of the property tax, which is still pending with the Assembly.

Deo, however, asked the civic body to ensure drainage desiltation and repair work before the monsoon rains hit the city.

Tourism minister Ashok Chandra Panda assured that as the corporation will constitute its 10th standing committee on beautification, his department will provide funds to beautify specific sites in the city with potential to attract tourists.

“The annual octroi compensation granted by the state government is nearly Rs 60 crore. From this year, we are going to get Rs 85 crore. But, we are demanding that BMC must get Rs 350 crore. As business-wise, the state exchequer is getting benefits of over Rs 1,200 crore after abolition of octroi tax, the BMC should get the most as it is having the highest business transactions in the state,’’ said Bhubaneswar mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

Commissioner Krishan Kumar said that the council had passed a proposal to engage a consultant which would ensure inclusion of all the holdings (houses) under the tax net.

“There are about 1.2 lakh houses within the corporation’s limits. But, only 80,000 houses actually pay holding tax. The consultant will be given a target to include all the houses into holding tax net till the government decides on the property tax issue. As we are getting around Rs 20-22 crore a year from holding tax, the use of a consultant would definitely make our collection Rs 40 core,’’ Kumar said.

Councillor Amaresh Jena said the council today decided to write to the development authority so that when the BDA would issue the occupancy certificate to an apartment, a copy would come to the BMC as well. This will ensure that every new building is included as a new holding.

The council also decided to ensure the polythene ban is ensured in the city. “We will tag the polythene ban with the trade licence. So, if a trader will violate the ban in future, his/her licence will be cancelled immediately,’’ said a senior BMC official.

Bhubaneswar-Central MLA Bijay Kumar Mohanty and Bhubaneswar-North MLA Priyadarshi Mishra also attended the council meeting.