The Hindu : Kerala News : Budget has a positive outlook: Industry

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Friday, Jul 09, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Budget has a positive outlook: Industry

By Our Staff Reporters

KOCHI, JULY 8. Captains of industry in the State have hailed the Annual Budget proposals presented by the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, in Parliament today.

They have particularly welcomed the announcement about the Vallarpadom project. Apprehensions have been raised on the LNG terminal and FACT as the Budget makes no mention about them.

Leading industrialists and businessmen who met under the aegis of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Kochi expressed the view that the Budget had a positive outlook. T. R. Raghulal, chairman, CII, Kerala, welcomed the growth-oriented proposals, which aimed at zero-deficit in five years.

Hailing the proposal for the Vallarpadom project, A. Gopalakrishnan, co-convenor of Economic Affairs panel, CII Kerala, urged the industry to seize the opportunity for massive development. He also welcomed the announcement for implementation of VAT from next year.

N. Sreekumar, former chairman of CII Kerala, complimented the Finance Minister for focussing on R&D. It would help the Indian manufacturing sector to identify its weaknesses in comparison to the Chinese. However, he felt that the turnover tax issue needed further explanation.

Vijay Narayan Govind, Chartered Accountant, observed that Mr. Chidambaram had not ruled out privatisation of PSUs in his "diplomatic statement." He hailed the creation of a corpus fund for industrial promotion and excise duty exemption to computers.

K.K.M. Kutty, former chairman of CII Southern Region, said the Budget reflected the fundamental issues mentioned in the Common Minimum Programme.

Development-centric: The Malabar Chamber of Commerce has described the Budget presented by "development-centric," considering the equal emphasis placed in the economic progress of the country on industrial and agricultural uplift.

The chamber president, J. A. Majeed, said in Kozhikode today that Mr. Chidambaram had placed additional priority on small-scale industries sector and agriculture along with the development of education and health sector infrastructure. The tax exemption on handloom, power loom, and agriculture implements and medical equipments would give a new fillip to these sectors, Mr. Majeed added. He expressed reservations on the introduction of VAT regime.

No debt relief: The Kerala Agri-horticultural Promotion Council president, P.T.S. Unni, today said though the Budget raised fresh hopes for horticulture and farm sectors, it was certain to disappoint a large section of the farming community since it did not contain proposals for debt relief.

Kerala neglected: The Calicut Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, M. Muzamil, and the secretary, T. P. Ahmed Koya, has said the Budget had virtually left out Kerala.

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