Sharp interstate differences are starting to crop up between Gujarat and Rajasthan, one day ahead of the state government planned grand function in the border taluka of Tharad to supply Narmada canal waters to Rajasthan. Making a pointed statement in the Gujarat state Assembly, minister of state for finance Saurabh Patel, known for his closeness to chief minister Narendra Modi, said, "We have decided to complain to the Centre's Empowered Committee against Rajasthan charging a much lower value-added tax (VAT) on certain commodities than Gujarat, against the agreed-upon rate VAT minimum for the entire country.' Patel said, as a result, kota stone as well as marble in Rajasthan is "considerably cheaper' than in Gujarat, making its sale in Gujarat highly unprofitable. This is the main reason, he added, why the Gujarat government has been forced to impose an entry tax on kota stone and marble coming from Rajasthan to 20 per cent, up from 12.5 per cent. Hoping that this would stop the two commodities entering Gujarat's from the neighbouring state, Patel said, "The rate of VAT on these two commodities was fixed at 12.5 per cent. However, unfortunately, Rajasthan brought it down to four per cent. We have decided to ask the Centre's empowered committee, looking into such kind of discrepancies, to ask Rajasthan not to behave like this.' Patel rejected Opposition leader Shaktisinh Gohil's suggestion that Gujarat, too, should bring down VAT on kota stone and marble from 12.5 per cent to four, instead of raising entry tax in order to "protect' local trade and commerce. Patel's statement is significant, as chief minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to release Narmada waters into the canal for Rajasthan on Thursday morning at a grand function in Tharad. Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia will be receiving Narmada waters from across the border at a similar function. The two BJP leaders will be holding separate ceremonies, though there were plans earlier to hold a function together. Differences between Modi and Scindia are well known. Even during the riots in 2002, Scindia had said, Gujarat could not be Rajasthan's role model. BJP insiders say, she has never liked Modi being promoted at the national level.