Industry says it’s a mixed bag

Reacting on this budget,Badish Jindal,President of Federation of Association of Small Industries of Punjab said,“The introduction of Central excise on sewing machines and bicycles will further increase prices of the product. Already these industries are facing hardships from various corners. Moreover the corpus fund of small industries development board of India (SIDBI) has not been increased from Rs 100 crore. On the one hand,while agriculture lending interest rates have been reduced,nothing has been done for the advancement of industry.”

Dinesh Lakra,President of Laghu Udyog Bharti,and Vinod Thaper,President of Knitwear Club, said,“The introduction of 10 per cent excise duty on branded clothes is a great setback for the textile industry. This has come as a rude shock for us. Nothing good for Punjab has been given in the budget,but industries at large have been covered under the tax net.”

Prof PP Kansal,Chairman of Ludhiana Stock Exchange,too called it a flat budget as he said,“The stock market did not react much to the FM’s budget. Issues regarding listing of stock exchanges have not been addressed and moreover the finance minister did not clarified on the ways of bringing back black money. The foreign investors will not be attracted much.”