Quarry, lorry owners to go on strike over mine tax

DEMANDING the withdrawal of the mineral-bearing land tax, members of the Tamil Nadu Stone Quarries, Crusher Units and Lorry Owners Association across the state will launch an indefinite strike from Wednesday.

- S SENTHIL KUMAR @Coimbatore/Salem

The mines department started imposing the mineral-bearing land tax of ₹90 for one unit of crushed stone from April 4.

K Chinnasamy, president of the association, said, "The state government imposed the same tax in February. However, after we took it up with the state government, it was temporarily stopped. Now, the mines department had started implementing it again. We want the new tax system to be withdrawn immediately, as we are paying an extra ₹1,370 for a unit of crushed stone. Most are unable to run the units due to the additional financial burden. We are paying this tax once a week or once every ten days," said Chinnasamy.