Buildings on Idco land owe Rs 72cr to Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation in holding tax

Bhubaneswar: Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has assessed that Rs 72 crore of holding tax is to be collected from holdings (buildings) built on land belonging to Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco).

With the govt’s approval last year, BMC would be able to collect holding tax from Idco lands from the financial year, 2025-26. Of Rs 72 crore, educational institutes, set up on Idco land, owed BMC around Rs 32 crore, civic body officials said.


Holding tax is an important component in bolstering the coffers of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation. Apart from educational institutions, govt and commercial establishments, and residential houses pay holding tax every year based on the annual assessment carried out by the civic body. While some had huge current dues, others had both arrears and current dues.

“Earlier, we did not assess establishments built on Idco lands, whatever the institutions, including the industrial clusters, were. We sought approval from the govt and we received it last year. We were not able to fully assess all the holdings. This year, we calculated the total holding tax on Idco land to be Rs 72 crore. From the first week of February, we will start enforcement and will try to collect as much tax revenue as possible,” said BMC deputy commissioner (revenue) Ajay Mohanty.

Civic officials also said that some prominent educational institutions had moved the Orissa high court, challenging the tax assessed against their holdings.

BMC calculates holding tax on the basis of 0.5% of the land value of a particular area (which varies from locality to locality), in addition to the building cost, which is calculated on the basis of Rs 1.35 paise per sq ft of built-up area. Since the land valuation increased by the govt at different locations in Bhubaneswar, the final tax amount also increased in the revised tax assessment, which the Orissa high court stopped in 2021. Since then, tax is collected on the basis of old rates, officials said.

In Nov, BMC also planned to conduct 900 special camps at different places in 67 wards, involving residents’ welfare associations in sensitising people to pay holding tax. Some camps were held but it will be intensified Feb onwar