PANJIM: Soon after the chief minister cum finance minister Laxmikant Parsekar tabled the budget in the Goa Assembly for the last time before the ensuing state Assembly elections, the general mood of the industry was “implementation is key”. Many termed this budget as a pre-election exercise.
While the mining, agriculture, education, information technology, feni industry sectors have expressed their satisfaction and a bit of ‘relief’, industries like tourism and pharmaceuticals have shown extreme displeasure over the budget.
“I am not happy with the budget and tourism has not been given the importance it deserves. I did not see any focus on development of tourism. Budgetary provision for tourism promotion at Rs 50 crore and tourism infrastructure at Rs 80 crore has no break up of the purposes these funds will be utilized. I could not see any provision for Convention centers which are a necessity for the growth of the MICE market. There are more than 36,000 unregistered rooms in Goa which do not pay any taxes. Nothing has been done to plug these leakages and bring the entire hospitality industry under the tax bracket as a result of which the legitimate industry continues to bear the brunt of the taxation burden,” said Francisco de Braganca, President, TTAG.
Similarly, pharmaceutical manufacturing sector was unhappy with the neglect shown by the state government in the budget. “Nothing has been done for pharma sectorve, which has not only been growing in Goa but have also been supporting local employment alongwith the ancilliary units and industires and also adding to the revenue coffers of the government,” said Suresh Kamat, President, Goa Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers’ Association.
