Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, May 2: In order to woo international carriers to commence operations from Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA), the state government has proposed to waive value-added tax (VAT) on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) for foreign airlines.
Earlier, the Orissa government had brought down VAT on jet fuel from 20 per cent to five per cent November 27, 2013 to woo both domestic and international carriers, but this time the government has offered to waive ATF taxes exclusively for international airlines.
Over one-and-a-half years have passed since Bhubaneswar airport obtained an international tag November 30, 2013, but none of the global airlines have come up with a concrete proposal to commence operations from BPIA except FlyDubai, whose request was cancelled by the Union ministry of civil aviation (MCA).
The finance department’s special secretary BK Das told this newspaper that the government is considering waiving taxes on jet fuel for global carriers to encourage them to operate flights from BPIA. “The government wants to put Bhubaneswar airport on the global aviation map,” Das said.
The beleaguered aviation industry in Orissa had showed signs of recovery after the government slashed ATF taxes; it did not however cut much ice with international low-cost airlines wanting to introduce flights from BPIA to the Middle East and South-Asian countries.
BPIA director Sharad Kumar said the state government has proposed to waive taxes on jet fuel only for global carriers which may take time to materialise. “FlyDubai’s request has been cancelled by MCA and now the government is in talks with state-run Air India, Jet Airways and IndiGo to introduce flights from Bhubaneswar to Dubai and Bangkok,” Kumar said, adding annual passenger influx of BPIA has gone up from 14 lakh in 2013-14 to 15.86 lakh in 2014-15.