THE ministry of environment and forests is planning to introduce a proposal to treble the existing water cess rates at the current monsoon session of Parliament, following demands from fund- starved state pollution control boards.

The ministry proposes to treble the existing rates of 1.5 paise on each kilolitre (ki) of water used in industrial cooling, 2 paise per km in domestic use, 4 paise per km in industries producing toxic (biodegradable) effluents and 5 paise per km in industries producing toxic (non-biodegradable) effluents. The hike is expected to raise the cess collections from Rs 30 crore to Rs 80 crore annually.

Besides, the parliamentary review committee is scrutinising the process of distribution of cess collection between the Centre and the states. As per the existing water cess disbursement process, 25 per cent of the collection is retained by the Centre for R & D on clean technology or for pollution control implementation. The state boards are asking for a reversal to the earlier 20:80 spilt between the Centre and the states.