Coimbatore: Nirmala Sitharaman's maiden Union Budget 2019 has evoked mixed reactions from the Industrial Associations of Coimbatore.
Coimbatore: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's maiden Union Budget 2019 has evoked mixed reactions from the Industrial Associations of Coimbatore.
Following the announcement of the budget, the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Coimbatore Chapter) held a press meet. Addressing the media, on behalf of ICCI's response to the Union Budget 2019, V Lakshminarayanasamy, the President of ICCI Coimbatore opined, "ICCI welcomes the Budget because there is a huge thrust on infrastructure development with 100 lakh crores which means indigenous industries will get a boost.
Corporate tax on companies with a turnover of up to Rs. 400 crores has been reduced to 25 percent which was earlier available for companies with a turnover of Rs.250 crores. This has been a long overdue demand which has been met. Also, aiming for a 3-trillion economy is positive news if the Government can achieve it. If the economy is expected to grow at this rate, then there will be overall development of industry."
"Giving incentives for e-vehicles is a welcome move indeed. Also giving thrust to start-ups will be good for places like Coimbatore which has seen a number of start-ups mushrooming," stated the ICCI President.
"On the flip side, not reducing GST for job orders is disappointing and increase in fuel price due to 1 percent increase in excise duty will definitely have an impact. We expected more sops for the industrial sector but many demands were not met. We have to wait for more details, since for GST-related issues, it is the GST Council which will be the deciding authority," added V Lakshminarayanasamy.
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are disappointed with the Union Budget 2019. James, President of Tamil Nadu association of Cottage and Micro enterprises said, "It is a deeply disappointing Budget since there is nothing positive for the MSME sector.
Our long-standing demand for reduction of GST from 18 percent to 5 percent for job orders was not done. How will the Indian economy grow when there is nothing positive for the MSMEs. Indian industrial growth is dependent on the MSME sector but the Union Budget 2019 has failed to provide any relief to the sector," he added.
"The only good thing is that GST payments can be made quarterly instead of monthly returns. Now, we do not have to think about GST every month, which was hard . But even this move, we think it is for the corporates who pay us only once in three months but that seems to be the only silver lining in an otherwise disappointing budget," opined James.
For the start-up eco system, the Union Budget 2109 has brought in huge relief. Deepak K Viswanathan of Merestone Properties opines, "This budget has brought immense relief to start-ups since scrutiny of investments was a big block. Since self-declaration will do for start-up investors, we can expect a boost in the start-up eco system.
Also the Angel tax was a bothering factor which has now been relaxed, which is a welcome move. And to boost agro-entrepreneurship, the Budget has proposed to set up 80 livelihood-based incubators and 20 technology incubators which will help rural entrepreneurs to a great extent."
Sivarajah of Nativelead said, "The Angel tax has always been a confusion since they were treating investments as profits, though the Government later said it is only for investments above 25 crores. Relaxation of scrutiny for Angel investments has brought immense relief because even when people wanted to invest in start ups, IT scrutiny and issues related to it stopped many investors from investing. Now since it is relaxed, we can expect more investments to come in which is good for the start-up eco system."
Over all, to sum up the Union Budget 2019, a candid opinion from a senior industrialist echoes the sentiment prevailing in the industrial sector which feels, "It was a flat budget with no focus on specific areas. The Budget was more like a statement and we are disappointed."