Cement co evades royalty payment of Rs 59 lakh

SHILLONG: The national auditor CAG has detected evasion of payment to the tune of Rs.59 lakh by a cement company operating in Meghalaya.
The cement company had been able to conceal purchase of 1.95 lakh cubic metre of sand and evaded payment of royalty of Rs.59 lakh due to lack of coordination among the government departments.
The CAG report said that the Forest and Environment department had, in 1998, fixed the rate of royalty on sand at Rs.30 per cubic metre.
Inspection of records of the District Forest Officer, Jaintia Hills (Territorial) Division, Jowai,    revealed that the cement company disclosed consumption of 0.42 lakh cubic metre of river sand between 2008-09 and 2012-13 on which it paid royalty of Rs.15 lakh to the DFO.
However, cross verification with the records of Superintendent of Taxes, Jowai, allowed the CAG to detect that during the said period the company had actually consumed 2.38 lakh cubic metre of river sand.
“Due to the lack of coordination among the government departments, the company was able to conceal consumption of 1.96 lakh cubic metre of sand resulting in evasion of royalty amounting to Rs.59 lakh,” the CAG report stated.
When this was pointed out last year, the DFO stated that the cement company had been directed to pay the balance amount, the CAG said, adding, a report on the recovery was awaited from the Forest and Environment department.