Jharkhand cabinet nod for tourist tax, modern libraries
Ranchi: The Jharkhand cabinet on Thursday approved several proposals, including a tax to be levied on tourists staying at hotels in urban areas and a Rs 276.49 crore fund to construct libraries in 23 districts.
The council of ministers green-lighted the Jharkhand City Tourist Tax Rules, 2025, under which travellers staying in urban hotels will be required to pay a tax calculated on the total invoice value.
“The cabinet approved the Jharkhand City Tourist Tax Rules, 2025. Under the rules, domestic tourists will pay a 2 per cent tax on the total invoice value for their stay in hotels that are either exempt from or not registered under GST,” Cabinet Secretary Vandana Dadel told reporters.
For hotels where the GST rate is below 18 per cent, the tax will be 2.5 per cent, while for those in which the GST rate is 18 per cent or more, the tourist levy will be 5 per cent.
“For foreign tourists, the tax rates have been fixed at 4 per cent in non-GST hotels, 5 per cent in hotels with GST below 18 per cent, and 10 per cent in hotels with GST of 18 per cent or above,” she said.
The approval was also granted for a Rs 276.49 crore fund to construct state-of-the-art libraries in 23 districts of the state, she said.
Each library will have a seating capacity of 800, with an estimated cost of Rs 12.02 crore per facility, including furniture, equipment, and books.
The cabinet also gave its nod to the implementation of the centrally sponsored Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban 2.0 in municipal areas across the state.
An estimated Rs 22 crore was approved for establishing an institute of driving, training and research in East Singhbhum district.
Of this, the Centre will provide Rs 17 crore, while Tata Motors, Jamshedpur, will contribute Rs 1.82 crore, and the remaining Rs 3.21 crore will be borne by the state government, she said.
For the current fiscal, the cabinet sanctioned the establishment of four centres of excellence at BIT Sindri in Dhanbad.
Similarly, Dadel said, Rs 88.92 crore was sanctioned for constructing a new building for Jawaharlal Nehru College, Chakradharpur, a constituent college under the Kolhan University.
The other major decisions include the Manki Munda Scholarship Scheme will now be available to girl students from technical colleges outside Jharkhand. Previously, this scheme was only available to girl students from colleges affiliated with Jharkhand Technical University.
This apart sanction was given for a 528-bed hostel for girl students at the Kalyan Parishad in Morabadi on the Ranchi Women’s College campus.
The Daltonganj railway station in Palamu district will be named Medininagar. After receiving consent from the central government, the state government approved the name change proposal today.
It was also decided that state ministers, the Chief Minister, MLAs, and former MLAs will be provided medical facilities on par with All India Service officers. Under this arrangement, the government will reimburse the entire medical expenses of the honorable persons as reimbursement.
The cabinet gave nod for rules which have been established to resolve service and retirement disputes of state employees. It sets time limits and responsibilities for officials to resolve any dispute or problem. An appellate authority has also been established for those dissatisfied with the resolution reached at lower levels. Concerned employees will be able to present their views before this authority.
