Goa’s green cess comes to haunt metal, mining cos

Subject: Polity

Section: Judiciary

Context:

Goa and Gujarat are levying ‘green cess’ on steel manufacturing companies.

What is a ‘cess’?

A cess is a kind of add-on tax the government levies for collecting purpose-specific funds.
For instance, the education cess on income tax proceeds is used to fund the country’s development of primary, secondary, and higher education facilities.

About ‘Green Cess’:

A Green cess is a form of tax levied by the government with the purpose of environment conservation.
The revenue collected through such cess is used to create green energy infrastructure, combating environmental pollution, afforestation and other such purposes which help in conserving the environment.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had introduced a similar tax called Green Tax / Eco Tax.
Goa government has enacted “The Goa Cess on Products and substances causing pollution (Green Cess) Act 2013” and levied Green Cess on industries using or transportation of Coal, Coke and other similar substances causing pollution.
The levy would be 0.5 per cent of the sale value.

Action from companies:

Companies are already paying the cess on coal and electricity duty.
Several companies had challenged the cess in Bombay high court, but the High Court upheld the constitutional validity of the Green Cess Act.

Impact of implementing green cess: