E-Paper
Punjab industry gives thumbs up to budget
Calling the Union Budget 2023 as growth oriented, the state industry gave a thumbs up to the announcements made by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Ludhiana
Calling the Union Budget 2023 as growth oriented, the state industry gave a thumbs up to the announcements made by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and said reforms undertaken for the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) will help the industry recover from the covid-induced challenges.
The Union government has proposed to spend a record ₹22,138 crore on allocations aimed at MSMEs in the budget, giving a boost to employment in the country.
The industry also hailed the budget for its emphasis on government capex, infrastructure development and reduction in income-tax burden for the middle class.
“As per the budget, the cost of credit for MSMEs will be reduced by 1%. This is an excellent step as it will help the sector to get loans. The budgetary allocation on rural development scheme will uplift steel and cement industry. The budget is overall growth-oriented,” said Upkar Singh Ahuja, president, Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU).
Pankaj Munjal, chairman and managing director of Hero Cycles Ltd, said a stronger India would emerge. “The allocation of higher budgets to defence, technology, clean energy is all in the right direction. Consistency on this is the key as these investments have long gestation,” he said.
Industrialist Rajnish Ahuja, president, Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry hailed the step to make Permanent Account Number (PAN) a common identifier for all digital systems of specified government agencies. “The KYC process will be simplified and a one-stop update of identity will be established through Digilocker service and Aadhaar. This will reduce bogus billing,” he said.
Pankaj Sharma, general secretary, CICU, said: “The budget will pave the way for our country to achieve the target of becoming a 5 trillion USD economy. With less compliance, budget will boost start-ups and MSME sector. PAN-linked Adhaar will help curb bogus billing which is ruining the smooth functioning of industry,” he said.
Amit Thapar, chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Punjab, said the budget is good as there is increased focus on capex. “The government will spend ₹10 lakh crore on longer term capital expenditure, an increase of 33%, extending its strategy to revive growth after Covid. All this is set to boost employment and create job avenues,” he said.
Bicycle industry has reason to cheer
Ludhiana bicycle industry too had a reason to cheer as the government removed the custom duty on capital goods/machinery for manufacture of lithium-ion cell in batteries of electric vehicles (EV) and extending the subsidy on electric batteries for one more year.
“The import duty on bicycles has been increased from 30% to 35% which will raise the cost of imported cycles and the step will prove beneficial to the local cycle industry. There is no change in GST on bicycle and parts,” said DS Chawla, president, United Cycle Parts Manufacturers Association (UCPMA).
Meanwhile, Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation (FICO) president Gurmeet Singh Kular slammed the budget saying there is no technology upgradation scheme, no incentive and no new scheme for MSME sector.
“We welcome the New Income Tax Regime, as it will benefit the masses. Further, he said we welcome the increase of import duty from 30% to 35% on complete bicycles, but the government should have increased the import duty on bicycle parts also, to give a boost to the local manufacturers,” he said.
Badish Jindal, president, All India Trade Forum said the budget is directionless and once again the finance minister has failed to present a growth-oriented budget.
