Vadodara: The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) is looking to reduce the property tax on the Kalabhavan hockey ground and bring it down to nominal rates. A major controversy was raked up when the ground was sealed by the civic body for non-payment of taxes.
The Baroda District Hockey Association (BDHA) that works on a shoestring budget was finding it difficult to pay taxes amounting to Rs 5.41lakh per annum. After the ground was sealed in November this year, the royal family that owns the ground paid the pending amount of around Rs 31.6lakh that had accumulated over the years. The ground has now been locked by its owners.
The hockey players had made representations to the VMC regarding the ground, but the VMC had expressed helplessness saying that it was a matter between the association and the royal family that is the owner of the plot.
The civic body calculates the tax for the ground with a multiplier of 4.5 that is used for sports facilities like club houses, gymkhanas, sports stadiums, cinema halls, multiplexes, open air theatres, halls and other similar facilities. The VMC has now proposed that the tax should be calculated at the rate for which taxes were calculated for properties used for charitable purposes. The VMC uses a multiplier of only 0.05 to calculate the taxes for these properties.
“The tax will be reduced to a few thousand rupees a year. Once cleared, the proposal will be sent to the state government for its nod,” said an official. He added that after payment of the past payment dues, there was no seal on the property.
Baroda District Hockey Association (BDHA) secretary, Amardeep Singh said, “It is good that the VMC is reconsidering the property tax rates but we are not sure how long it will take for the decision to be implemented. VMC officials have told us that if we begin to play hockey on the ground commercial tax will be charged. And, if we keep waiting for the final decision, we don’t know if our hockey will survive.”
