Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar today reignited the hopes of commodity traders and exchanges on relief from a transaction tax saying he will take up the issue with Prime Minister and finance minister. The proposed Commodity Transaction Tax (CTT) of Rs 17 per lakh was part of the Union Budget 2008-09 that was approved by the Parliament in the last session and is yet to be notified. “We will discuss this particular subject (CTT) before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. There will be a joint meeting between me, finance minister P Chidambaram and Prime Minister,” Pawar said in an interview.

“Probably we may discuss something in the Cabinet and take a final view,” he said. When asked about timeframe of notification, Pawar said, “first you allow us to discuss and take a final view.” Pawar also holds the portfolio of consumer affairs minister.

The commodity exchanges as well as the market regulator FMC come under purview of Consumer Affairs Ministry.

Late last month, a senior Finance Ministry official said in New Delhi that commodities transaction tax, which is to be imposed on futures and options traded on commodity exchanges, would be notified in due course. The government had introduced CTT on the lines of Securities Transaction Tax (STT) in budget 2008-09. The decision has been opposed by sector regulator FMC, commodity bourses and brokers as they foresee negative impact of the decision on commodity market.