Government rejected Abhinav Bindra’s demand of not paying import duty

In the Olympic Games, gold medalist and shooting champion Abhinav Bindra was going to start a high-performance centre in Bangalore in the coming days. But the same centre of Bindra does not seem to be starting at the time as it has to pay custom duty on the required high-tech equipment from abroad, on which the government has pulled back its hands. This centre of Bindra is about to open in the third week of December, but the government is not able to open its hand after pulling it back.

This centre of Bindra will be equipped with all the modern facilities for athletes and will have all the necessary tools for players, rehabilitation, fitness training and sports science. But due to the new turn to repay the import duty, it is no longer starting to set up on the fixed deadline. Unhappy with this attitude of the government, Bindra had demanded payment of import duties of Rs 1.09 crore from Sports Ministry. The government has already given Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust (ABFT) a sum of Rs. 5 crores and this amount is 1.09 crore more than that.

According to Bindra, “We (ABFT) had initially submitted a proposal of Rs 6 crore to the government, in which Rs.1 crore was included for paying the import duty.

He further told, “Although the government sanctioned Rs 5 crore for us, there was no mention of import duty on it. If the Ministry resigns the letter written by him, then he will endeavour to repay the entire import duty of 5 crores, which the government has sanctioned or they have to pay the fee for the fund rage will do.’

Responding to Bindra’s request on behalf of the Ministry, an official said, “There are some reasons for rejecting Bindra’s demand. 5 million rupees is not a small amount. From this, the import duty can be easily paid. We are not able to understand why they are entangled. We would like to tell them that they look at things practically.

Such other centres coming under the Sports Authority of India (SAI) such as Prakash Padukone-Rahul Dravid Center for Sports Excellence will be one of the same centres, in which only players will be groomed for international competitions for the country.

In this centre, 3D cameras, motion sensors and digital screens have been installed for the practice of players.