Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Trade hails farming reforms

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI FEB. 28 . Trade and industry organisations have welcomed agricultural reforms initiated in the Union budget for 2002-03, while noting the absence of any major thrust for economic revival and investment. Describing the budget as a `balancing act' and `realistic' in the given circumstances, the organisations also welcomed higher allocations for infrastructure and higher depreciation for investment.

The president of the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry, N. Ramachandran, said the cement industry should have been given the type of reliefs extended to the steel industry, and expressed disappointment over the failure to provide level-playing to non-banking finance companies and relief to the recession-hit automobile industry.

R.Muthu, president of the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry, regretted the continued levy of special excise duty on the employment-generating automobile industry, absence of stimulus for savings and capital formation and imposition of new tax burdens on the salaried class.

P.K.N.Panicker, president, Chemical Industries Association, said the scheme for rural employment should have been integrated with a waste reclamation and recycling programme. While welcoming dismantling of the administered price mechanism for petroleum products, he said the surcharge on ethanol purchased for petrol blend at Rs 5.20 per litre would ensure availability of alcohol at reasonable prices to chemical industries.

The president of the Sindhi Chamber of Commerce, Lalchand K.Nichani, said partial withdrawal of tax benefits under Sec.88 of the Income Tax Act would `give sleepless nights' to new entrants in the insurance industry.

The National Chamber of Commerce president, Syed Muneer Ahmed, appealed to the Finance Minister to reconsider withdrawal of Sec.88 benefits and levy of dividend tax at the hands of the individual investor.

S.Santhanam, president, Tamil Chamber of Commerce, said higher allocation of resources would boost tourism, airports, ports and power sectors.

Sugar industry sources said cut in fertiliser subsidy and levy of user charges would raise the cost of cane cultivation, which could have an impact on sugar exports in view of the huge farm subsidies given by developed countries. The marginal reduction in the levy quota on sugar from 15 per cent to 10 per cent was in line with the Government's move towards total decontrol, while the increase in the PDS sugar price was only a marginal course correction to neutralise the average levy price hike for the 2001-02 season.

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