The Indian Minister of State for Finance said on November 22, 2012 that the authorities in India are investigating a local unit of the chocolate giant Cadbury. The company has been accused of evading tax to the tune of 2 billion rupees .
The investigations have been ordered as the country is looking forward to increase its revenue to contain an ever-growing fiscal deficit. Minister SS Palanimanimanickam stated in a written response to questions from lawmakers that, “Two cases of tax evasion by Cadbury India Ltd have been detected by the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence during the years 2009-10 to 2012-13, up to 31st October, 2012”.
The recent issue is the second time the chocolate company has got into trouble with the Indian authorities. Last year an investigation was launched over Kraft Foods Inc. which needed to pay taxes from its $19 billion takeover from Cadbury, which is being probed at the moment.
The two recent cases against the Cadbury India unit involve allegations of evasion of central excise duty or factory gate tax, at the company’s facility in the state of Himachal Pradesh. A spokesperson from Cadbury India said that it was cooperating fully with the authorities. The spokesperson said in an emailed statement that since the investigation is underway it will be inappropriate for them to discuss the details at the present moment .
