Industry bodies all-praise for union budget

Various industry bodies Friday welcomed the union budget presented by finance minister Nirmala Seetharaman. The maiden budget of the current finance minister is a clear demonstration of the government's vision towards a developed and sustainable India which is forward-looking and visionary, convenor of taxation panel CII Coimbatore zone G Karthikeyan said.

The focus and thrust are given to agriculture, MSME, infrastructure and start-up eco-system which would rejuvenate the creation of jobs. The assurance that start-ups and their investors would not be subject to any tax scrutiny for the value of their shares if they file requisite declaration is a big relief to start-up investors, Karthikeyan said.

The proposed faceless e-assessment for the income tax assesses would provide transparency to the taxpayers in addition to a reduction of hassles, he said. However, the increase in petrol and diesel would increase the overall cost of living, Kathikeyan said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF) welcomed the announcement regarding the formation of a committee with government and private stakeholders to suggest action to move forward on women development. Increasing the participation of women in the workforce is the top priority of the country.

The percentage of Indian women in the workforce is around 26 while in Vietnam it was 73 and in China 62, ITF convenor Prabhu Dhamodaran said in a release. Chairman of Southern India Mills Association P Nataraj welcomed the 10-point vision for the next decade intending to make the country achieve USD 5-trillion USD in a few years.

In a press release, Nataraj welcomed the budget that has laid ambitious targets to address various important issues relating to connectivity, power, skill development. He appreciated the announcement of 'One Nation, One Grid' power sector tariff and structural reforms.

The textile industry being the power-intensive industry and facing a problem of stiff competition in the global market would get greatly benefited with the proposed reforms addressing the barriers like cross subsidy surcharges, undesirable duties on open access and captive power generation, he said. The announcement of four labor codes in place of multiple labor legislation is yet another welcoming feature in the budget, Nataraj said.

However, he said the allocation of Rs 700 crore for Amended Technology Upgradation Fund (TUF) Scheme was much on the lower side as the total pending TUF subsidy under various TUF schemes amounts to around Rs 10,000 crores. He expressed hope that once the Ministry of Textiles conducts a joint inspection and make the claims, adequate funds would be provided to enable the industry to mitigate the financial stress currently being faced.

Out of Rs 17,822-crore allocated for TUF subsidy for the period 2017-2022, only around Rs 2,400 crore has been utilized, Nataraj said and appealed to the government to expedite the release of subsidy.