Mangaluru :  Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has agreed to retain the office of the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax in Mangaluru and promised to rescind the order merging it with the one in Panaji, Goa sai, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel on Thursday.

Taking to Twitter, Mr. Kateel said that he had represented to Ms. Sitharaman the need to retain the IT office in Mangaluru that has a very large tax payer base. He thanked Union Ministers D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Pralhad Joshi for their support.

Meanwhile, the Mangaluru branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in a statement here said that Mr. Sadananda Gowda met Ms. Sitharaman in New Delhi on Thursday and impressed upon her the need to retain the IT office in Mangaluru.

He also urged her to withdraw the order merging it with the one in Goa.

The statement said that it was an achievement for the coastal districts as Ms. Sitharaman agreed to the representations made by various forums, including the Mangaluru and Udupi branches of ICAI, Kanara Chamber of Commerce of Commerce and Industry and others. She has promised to withdraw the merger order, the statement said.