Rs 137-cr check post ‘useless’ post GST

Touted as the first modern integrated check post in Tamil Nadu, the facility on NH5 near Gummidipoondi is all set for inauguration soon. The Rs 137-crore facility will house various departments for executing an integrated checking of vehicles entering the state from Andhra Pradesh. But, the check post is unlikely to yield significant revenue as the major revenue generator – commercial taxes department – has pulled out of the check post after the implementation of the GST.

The 10-year-old project proposed in 2008 started taking shape after the state transport department sanctioned a total of Rs 109.46 crore for setting up the facility at Pethikuppam, about 60km north of the city in Tiruvallur district, in 2013. The plan was to accommodate seven departments, including revenue, police, prohibition and excise, civil supplies and consumer protection, besides commercial taxes in the check post such that an integrated checking can be carried out of vehicles coming from the neighbouring state. According to official sources, the cost had escalated by an additional Rs 27 crore in the last five years as the constructions got over. At present, the facility has features to scan the vehicle registration numbers captured through cameras, which would be sent to the central server of the Union ministry of road transport and highways (MORTH) for verification. The check post will have a modern weighbridge on the lanes that would automatically weigh the vehicles for overloading. Other departments should do checkings manually, official sources said. However, T K Pandian, a consultant for logistic firms, said, “These are the features of toll plazas, and not that of an integrated check post. The check post with such huge investments should have scanners that can detect carriage of any hazardous material without manual checking. It must have sophisticated scanners that can alert about any suspicious material being transported (without physical verification).”

While the commercial taxes department sources confirmed that they were not part of the facility after implementation of the GST, an official with the state transport authority said that police department can set up such exhaustive security gadget depending on their requirement. “The modern integrated check post is not a commercial venture such that we declare the notional revenue. We can tell anything only after its inauguration,” another transport department official added.



Source :  The Times of India