E-Paper
Ludhiana business organisations oppose budget, say MSMEs ignored
Harpal Singh Bhamber, head, FICO bicycle division, said that no special package for the bicycle Industry has been introduced even though India is the 2nd largest bicycle manufacturer in the world, after China
Business organisations in Ludhiana on Thursday opposed the Centre’s interim budget for the fiscal year 2024-25, saying that the government failed to bring any relief to micro, small and medium enterprises.
The industrialists said that the budget lacks technology upgrade scheme, any incentive and new schemes for the small and medium industry.
Federation of Punjab Small Industries Associations (FOPSIA) Badish Jindal said, “there was nothing in the budget except giving Sanskrit names to the schemes to please a section of society.”
He added that 7.5 crore MSMEs are not the focus area of the Prime Minister even though the sector contributes 40% of the export and production and gives employment to 13 crore Indians.
He further added that the budget of PMEGP and other credit schemes of MSME decreased from ₹21,233 crore to ₹12,462 crore. In the last 10 years, the revenue of the government increased from ₹16,65,297 crore to ₹47,65,768 crore. The reason behind this increase is high inflation and huge direct and indirect tax rates, he said.
Gurmeet Singh Kular, president of Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organization (FICO), said that the budget should have introduced International Cooperation Scheme to enable the MSMEs to visit international exhibitions and see the global manufacturing excellence so that they can improve their own productivity.
KK Seth, chairman, FICO, lamented that no rationalization of income tax has been done budget as the income tax for private limited, public limited companies is capped to a maximum of 25%, whereas the partnership firms and proprietorship firms are capped at 30%, which does not provide a level playing field to the Corporates and small industries.
Harpal Singh Bhamber, head, FICO bicycle division, said that no special package for the bicycle Industry has been introduced even though India is the 2nd largest bicycle manufacturer in the world, after China.
Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU) president Upkar Singh Ahuja appreciated the government’s concern about uplifting the logistics and aiming to add three more rail corridors for energy, cement and mineral.
