The 83rd annual general body meeting of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore Chapter (ICCIC) was held yesterday at the Chamber hall. ICCIC President, Vanitha Mohan delivered the presidential and welcome address which was attended by executive committee members, members and past Presidents.
ICCIC is well known for it's representations to the central and state governments on all pressing trade & commerce issues of the region. During the meet, detailed discussion on present economic scenario, the GDP shift and also the three major challenges for emerging economies which are the Monetary Policy stance of the US Fed, the uncertainty around commodity prices especially that of crude oil and increased protectionism in several parts of the World were discussed in detail.
Addressing the meeting, Vanitha Mohan, President of ICCIC said, "Among the several schemes and policies introduced by the central government, implementation of GST with the object of "One Nation, one Market and one Tax" will transform trade in the unorganised sector to the organised sector and the Government expects considerable tax buoyancy in the years to come This would facilitate the Government to focus on infrastructure and thereby improving the circulation of the money in the economy.
The Government has taken a landmark decision to merge the Railway Budget with the General Budget and started looking at Indian Railways as a possible profit centre to contribute to the Government revenue This could facilitate multi modal transport planning between Railways, Highways and Inland Waterway functional autonomy".
Appreciating the demonetisation agenda of the central government, she said that "The demonetisation of the currency is a bold and innovative step, even though the result of this economic measure is yet to be established. However it has eased the liquidity in the banking system and certainly would lower the borrowing costs for the banks and prepare them for credit offtake in the years to come".
Coimbatore Scenario:
Trade, industry and people of Coimbatore are still to recover from the problems of acute water scarcity which prevails in most of the parts of not only city but also in the rural areas. Nothing significant has happened on the infrastructure front. We hope the Airport expansion, Air connectivity and Road connectivity will improve soon.
Revenue Collections:
Indirect tax collection in the region during 2016-17 was Rs.2630.94 crores (Central Excise Rs 896.07 crores, Customs Rs 232.83 crores and Service Tax Rs.1502.04 crores).
In Coimbatore the Commercial Tax collection (AT) during 2016-17 was Rs.4546,65 crores, due to introduction of GST there are some variations in the figures which will be set right before this end of financial year" Vanitha Mohan apprised the gathering.
Coimbatore - We Care:
This is an initiative taken by CSR Vertical of our chamber for creating a CSR Platform to channelize CSR funds available with Corporates by identifying credible and worthy projects for the development of Coimbatore region. Chamber organised a successful meeting under the banner "Coimbatore we care with leading Chartered Accountants Heads of corporates and NGOs of the city.
"Special focus on agriculture, GST implementation, infrastructure and brand building Start-ups, power and energy and Chamber Land development will be given additional focus during the upcoming period.
And, special thanks to S Jaikumar of M/s swamy Associates for his service to the Chamber by setting up a monthly help desk to address issues concerning for our members on GST, pre and post implementation", ICCIC, President Vanitha Mohan said.