Nirmala’s maiden budget growth-oriented: Industry

Coimbatore: Industry bodies in Coimbatore region have welcomed the Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s maiden budget, presented in Parliament on Friday for the year 2019-20, as growth-oriented.

Mr. G Karthikeyan, convenor, Taxation Panel of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Coimbatore, said, “the focus and thrust is given to agriculture, MSMEs, infrastructure and start up eco system, which will rejuvenate creation of jobs. The finance minister assured that start ups and their investors will not be subject to any tax scrutiny for value of their shares, if they file requisite declaration. It is a big relief to start up investors, he said.  

Karthikeyan said the PAN and Aadhar interoperability will reduce the practical difficulties and now a person with Aadhar can also file tax return without applying for PAN. He also said, “The proposal to provide additional relief of `1.50 lakh towards interest for affordable housing loans up to `45 lakhs will not only increase investment in housing sector but also help middle class tax payer to avail `3.5 lakh as deduction for housing loan interest,” he pointed out.  

Meanwhile, K V Srinivasan, chairman of the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) noted that the increase of petrol and diesel will increase overall cost of living; however, the budget is growth-oriented and in line with the aspirations of modern India. He said, “The budget has emphasized on the development of inland waterways for cargo movement which will certainly bring down the cost of transport especially for bulk products like raw cotton,” he noted.

V Lakhsminarayanasamy, president of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that union budget is citizen-friendly and mostly aligned to the government’s “Make in India", Cleaner India and Ease of Business Agenda" programmes.  

The Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF) welcomed the announcement on formation of a committee with government and private stakeholders to suggest action to move forward on women development. Prabhu Dhamodharan, convenor of ITF, said, “Increasing the participation of women in workforce is the top most priority of our country. We welcome the allocation of Rs 350 crore for 2019 -20 towards two per cent interest subvention scheme to benefit around 20 per cent of MSME registered under GST.”