(SUBHEAD) Chandigarh: Giving a much needed relief to trade and industry in the state, the Punjab Government has exempted around 40,000 statutory form related outstanding cases under Central Sales Tax / Value Added Tax (VAT), out of over 48,000 cases related to each of the financial years 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17. Notably, Punjab Chief Minister S. Charanjit Singh Channi had announced the decision at the Progressive Punjab Investors Summit in Ludhiana.