Coimbatore: Though the Union Budget 2019 which was presented by the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament today, evoked mixed reactions from the industrial sector and public, R Ramamurthy, the President of CODISSIA in his press release said, "CODISSIA welcomes the overall Budget announcements, in particular the emphasis given for the growth of the MSMEs."
Coimbatore: Though the Union Budget 2019 which was presented by the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament today, evoked mixed reactions from the industrial sector and public, R Ramamurthy, the President of CODISSIA in his press release said, "CODISSIA welcomes the overall Budget announcements, in particular the emphasis given for the growth of the MSMEs."
The press release also mentioned about the policies that Ramamurthy felt would help the overall growth of the small industries. "We welcome the measures to generate employment in Micro and Small Scale Industries which is the first step to promote MSMEs, the Government's plans to create MRO (Manufacturing, Repair and Operate) and the Government's provision of a one-time "6-month credit guarantee" on purchase of high-rate pooled assets of NBFC, amounting to Rs. 1 lakh crores this financial year," he stated.
R Ramamurthy also lauded the proposal to provide Rs.70,000 crores capital for PSU Banks, Rs.350 crores allocated for the financial year 2019–20, for the 2 percent interest subvention on fresh or incremental loans to all the GST-registered MSMEs under the interest subvention scheme, proposal for easy Angel Tax for start-ups and Angel Tax not being required for scrutiny from the Income Tax Department for start-ups.
The CODISSIA President also appreciated the ‘Stand Up India' Scheme which is to continue till 2025 and the proposal to commence television channels for start-ups. He made special mention in the press release of the payment platform for MSMEs to be created to enable filing of bills and payments thereof, to eliminate delays in Government payments and the Rs.1 crore loan in 59 minutes. He welcomed the pension benefits for retail traders with turnovers less than Rs. 1.5 crores and the Credit Guarantee Enhancement Corporation to be set up in 2019–20.
R Ramamurthy also appreciated the Rs.3,000 pension per month for informal sector workers in the Labour Department, the Aadhaar Card being made available for NRIs on arrival in India in under 180 days and the proposal to streamline multiple labour laws into a set of four labour codes for standardization of filing of returns.
He also welcomed the move to allow GST tax payers having an annual turnover of less than Rs.5 crores to file quarterly returns, the fully automated GST refund module to be implemented and the electronic invoice system that is proposed to eventually eliminate the need for a separate e-way bill.
The President of CODISSIA also lauded the investment-based announcements like the Government's plans to open Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in aviation, in insurance, in Animation Visual effects Gaming and Comics (AVGC) and media. He welcomed the move to conduct the Annual Global Investors' Meet for attracting global players to come and invest in India. "The FAME II scheme which aims to encourage faster adoption of electric vehicles by right incentives and charging the infrastructure are all a favourable move for the development of the country," opined R Ramamurthy.
He felt that the other facts to be considered in the Union Budget 2019 are the hike in prices of petrol and diesel which will increase the logistic cost of the product. "The annual turnover limit of 25 percent corporate tax to be extended to Proprietor and Partnership companies which are predominant in MSMEs and the job orders to be exempted from GST tax are the other points that need to be considered again," opined the CODISSIA President.