Maharashtra appoints Mastek to implement ST automation

Our Corporate Bureau

Mumbai, Oct 3: The Maharashtra government which proposes to introduce value added tax (VAT) from April 1, 2002 has appointed the global solutions company Mastek Ltd to implement the Mahavikas (Maharashtra Sales Tax automation programme) to make the department user friendly.

The Mahavikas would involve development of application software for administration of sales tax, VAT, professional tax and other such Acts currently administered by the state sales tax department.

State finance minister Jayant Patil after exchanging the agreement documents with the Mastek officials on Wednesday said that the Mahavikas would involve implementation of a statewide network for integration of tax administration with other revenue departments.
“Mahavikas, which will be a user friendly system with a bi-lingual interface (English and Marathi) will help set new standards in responsive service to individuals and the business community,” he added. According to Mastek press release, the company would be fully responsible for planning, designing and implementation of the application software and related hardware and network infrastructure. The company has already completed the automation of the Delhi sales tax department with the project Dost (Delhi Online Sales tax).

Mr Patil said that the sales tax department, which continues to be a major revenue earning department, contributes over 60 per cent of the total revenue of the state. The annual receipt has increased from a paltry Rs 30 crore in 1960-61 to Rs 13,400 crore in 2000-01.
The department, with around 10,000 staff at 40 locations across the state, caters to the five lakh taxpayers under the Bombay Sales Tax Act and 18 lakh under Profession Tax Act.