Bhubaneswar, Dec 25 (IANS): The Odisha cabinet in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday extended the value added tax (VAT) concession on pulses and dals for another three months till March 31.

"The cabinet has decided to extend the time limit for reduced VAT on pulses for a further period of three months," said Chief Secretary A.P. Padhi.

The state government had earlier extended the VAT relaxation from October 1 to December 31 in order to enable the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes to make an assessment of the impact of the tax reduction.

On June 30, the VAT rate was reduced from 5 per cent to 1 per cent on pulses of all kinds for three months with effect from July 1, to make an assessment of the impact of tax reduction on the market.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes has assessed that the state government would incur a loss of Rs 7 crore for every three months.

In a other decision, the cabinet approved naming mega lift irrigation schemes after freedom fighter Parbati Giri.