Mumbai: The Transport department has decided to grant exemption from payment of tax imposed under Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Tax Act (LXV of 1958) to all caravans or camper vans, registered as tourism entity under Directorate of Tourism (DoT) units. The Government of Maharashtra had approved the Caravan Tourism policy in March 2021. In July last year, the Vehicle Transport Department of Maharashtra government amended the Government Notification and decided to exempt taxes imposed on caravans or camper vans, registered under the policy.
Annually, the medium caravans or camper vans pay Rs 5,500 per sq mtr tax to the State government. The tax amount for bigger vans used to be around Rs 1.4 lakhs. Hence, this initiative by Maharashtra Tourism comes as a breather during tough COVID times, and aims to benefit all the caravan and camper van operators that have registered themselves.
Dhananjay Sawalkar, Jt. Director, Directorate of Tourism said, "Tax exemption for caravan comes as a big step to support the operators. This will change the course of travel in Maharashtra and help in establishing Caravan ecosystem in the State. I’d like to urge the operators to come forward, register themselves to reap the benefits of the policy."
Motohom Caravan was the first caravan to register under Maharashtra’s caravan tourism policy. On National Tourism Day i.e. 25th January, 2022, Motohom caravan was flagged off by Tourism Minister Aaditya Thackeray and Minister for State, Tourism, Aditi Tatkare, at Sahyadri guest house, Mumbai.
Aaditya Thackeray, Minister of Tourism said, “We visit our nation and world but we must also take a tour of our motherland, our own Maharashtra State. While doing that we must indulge in experiential tourism and encourage our stakeholders by choosing to visit beach shacks, go camping, explore the state in caravans and stay in homestays."
The Caravan Tourism Policy can be downloaded from https://www.maharashtratourism.gov.in/en/web/mh-tourism/policies.
