Over 40,000 business units in the state owe the government more than Rs 29,000 crore by way of taxes including VAT, sales tax and GST. Of these, 6,393 units owe more than Rs 10 lakh each. The figures were revealed in reply to various queries made by MLAs in the state assembly. The state government also revealed that the units, in total, owed Rs 29,560 crore by way of taxes and so far, the government has not managed to recover the dues.
Of the total number of units that owe money to the state by way of taxes, the highest is from Surat followed by Vadodara. In Vadodara, 7,377 units owe the state while 7,583 units in Surat are yet to pay their tax dues.
It should be noted that Vadodara is home to several clusters of industries focused on chemicals and fertilisers, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, fisheries and dairy, among others. It has over 18,000 small-scale industrial units including 5,713 service units and 1,923 textile units. It also has several glass and ceramic industries. In terms of value of taxes owed, Vadodara's debt stands highest at Rs 6,341 crore followed by Kutch where units owe the state a total of Rs 4,569 crore.