Small-scale industry hails concessions

LUDHIANA, June 2: Industry in general and small-scale industrial sector in particular have hailed the concessions announced for the industry...

LUDHIANA, June 2: Industry in general and small-scale industrial sector in particular have hailed the concessions announced for the industry by Union Finance Minister in the budget but hike in petrol prices, postal rates and more duty on consumer goods have come in for sharp criticism.

Federation of Associations of Small Industries of India (FASII) president V.P. Chopra said that it was for the first time that the Finance Minister, in his budget speech, had accepted that the SSI sector could generate more employment and needed to be supported. He said that raise in exemption limit from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh was a welcome step.

The government had done well to give an assurance that credit needs of the SSI units would be adequately met and the specialised bank branches would be given more power. Criticising the increase in petrol price, he said that it would indirectly affect the prices of all essential commodities and would lead to more inflation.

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P.D. Sharma, president, Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry, welcomed the efforts of Union Finance Minister to save the tax payer from complex procedures.

While a soft and SSI friendly budget was a laudable, the Finance Minister, Sharma added, had fumbled by levying excise duty on five per cent after the exemption limit of Rs 50 lakh. The rate of duty should have been in two slabs, one up to Rs 1 crore and the other beyond that.

He lamented that steel sector was totally neglected in the Union Budget and virtually nothing had been done to ameliorate the hard-hit industry.

Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU) has hailed the concessions announced for the SSI sector, particularly abolition of five per cent service tax, revival of modvat facility and need-based credit. Other constructive measures like raising plan outlay for key infrastructure sectors of energy, transport and communication were welcomed. However, CICU president Inderjit Singh Pardhan and general secretary Avtar Singh condemned the hike of in petrol prices describing it as anti-people and ant-industry.The Punjab JD has termed the budget as anti-people, inflationary and one that would adversely affect the economy. The convenor of the party, Harish Khanna said that as a consequence to petrol, urea, postal services becoming dearer, the prices of consumer goods and industrial inputs would see a seep hike.

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Khanna apprehended that not only the domestic trade but the export market would also witness a down-slide in sales and exports, respectively.

Ashok Kumar Juneja, member, Regional Direct Tax Advisory Committee, has taken exception to remarks of Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha in his budget speech that tax payers would be able to file their returns in a simple form without the help of income tax consultants.

Juneja, also a former president of the Taxation Bar Association, said that there were 289 sections, 125 rules and various statutory forms in income tax laws, and said that bar members’ assistance was integral to business activity.

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