NBR’s policy should not be a dampening factor for industrialisation

THE National Board of Revenue (NBR) is mulling the imposition of a tax at double the rate on the new industries to be established in and outskirts of the capital, reported a national English daily on Wednesday. Their ground for such tax imposition is to keep the capital city congestion and pollution free and make it livable, said the report. The decision seemingly appears workable, but its subsequent chain effects on overall industrialisation may be counter productive to the economy. This may discourage the entrepreneurs from further addition of newer units with existing ones to enhance production strengths. Certainly, Dhaka has become unsuitable to live in. But we think, only policy guidelines in terms of fiscal measures cannot be a healing thrust. It appears that the NBR has moved on its own without consultation with other stakeholders. But the ground realities, according to the experts, are that many factors are liable for making the capital uninhabitable. Experts are not ready to blame the industries alone and do not support any attempt to make it the instant victim.
NBR’s drive for relocating the industries outside the city is certainly praiseworthy. But they should move on in consultation with others who have a stake in the process. The government has already taken some initiatives to relocate some manufacturing sectors outside the capital. Shifting the tannery industries from Hazaribag and setting up a separate RMG village in Gazaria are already on the cards. But the slow pace of implementing such decisions frustrates further development of living conditions of the city dwellers.
Moreover, Dhaka city has some certain selected zones for industrial settings. To control the environmental hazards in these industrial areas, state of the art technology for pollution management and regular monitoring may be an effective option. The NBR should rather adopt a policy in association with concerned others to impose a tax on polluters. Through a progressive taxation policy, the NBR can stop cross-purpose use of the designated areas, particularly it should ban multi-purpose use of residential areas. This will create breathing space for the city.
Industrial areas like Tejgaon and Tongi and the like are in fact under-used and most factory infrastructure thereto are either out modeled or old enough. In fact, those old structures or even the very nature of the industries need to be remodeled or restructured or rebuilt or switched over to other product generation. That is most of these industries need BMRE. This is needed for rejuvenating the economy, particularly the industrial sector to enhance its contribution to the GDP. Thus, if NBR goes for imposing tax(es) in all such cases then the entrepreneurs may feel wary of making fresh investments which will eventually block further expansion of the country’s industrial base.  
We appreciate NBR’s initiatives for thinking about the degradation of the city’s living conditions, but we suggest that NBR should concentrate more in its assigned jurisdiction. Any policy regarding public tax that hampers economic growth can never be appreciated. We believe, NBR’s move to levy tax on newer industrial units in the city belt may be a dampening factor for the economy and hence it should be avoided.