TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in its pre-budget memorandum 2014- 2015 submitted to Chief Minister and Finance Minister, Manohar Parrikar has said that it is implementing its project in 55 primary schools under SSA. It has asked for a grant of Rs 20 lacs to provide 2 computers in each 3rd/ 4th std classroom where they will install Azim Premji Foundation learning software. A pilot project in 5 schools in Corlim has been started.
To improve learning of students in secondary and higher secondary, CII is willing to work with the department to meet a target of a rank of 50 in the PISA testing of 2019 and to work with the Government in general to revise the curricular of ITI, Polytechnic and Engineering courses within one year “if so empowered.”
On tourism, CII has proposed to train a total of 25,000 stakeholders in Tourism industry through a joint initiative with M/s Leap Foundation, World Host & Canadian Tourism Human Resource Commission. The objective being to integrate the Goa Tourism industry and provide value-add to all its stake holders. The proposal envisages to train in batches, 5000 stakeholders in the tourism including taxi drivers, hoteliers, tour operators, tour guides and the like in 3 month batches with an annual follow-up on performance on hospitality soft skills, etiquette and local customs and benchmarking these skills to international standards for which CII has demanded a grant of Rs 3 crore.
On the infrastructure front, it has asked that Logistics hubs be made in Dharbandora, Pernem and Verna in a multi-modal form with warehousing and train terminal and Inland waterways and coastal shipping be developed by building jetties & other infrastructure. Another proposal is the development of a cargo hub for Pharma and perishable cargo in Dabolim and thereafter at Mopa and the formation of Goa Maritime Board.
On the taxes front, it wants a lowering the Sales Tax percentage from 12.5% to attract many of the potential customers from outside Goa rationalizing that reduction in VAT percentage would be more than compensated through increased volumes and additional employment generation for the citizens of Goa.
The memorandum specific reference to the representation received from Automobile Corporation of Goa Ltd.
It wanted entry Tax should be levied on all bus & body building work done outside the State to ensure that our State will collect revenue by way of VAT or Entry Tax for all body building work of vehicles to be registered in Goa.
Also for the packing of non-biodegradable packaging materials, the amounts of Cess paid under the said notification should be allowed set off under VAT.
It has asked for exempting transactions of transfer of goods from one local area to other local area within the State by the same firm or company for consumption, use or sale retrospectively to give relief to all such assesses from 2005.
The memorandum also asks for the following products be exempted from Entry Tax or at least a reduction to 0.1 %: “electrolytic grade, continuous cast type or refined copper wire rod, or copper rod, bare or tin plated copper wire or stranded wire of copper falling under any of the following central excise chapter headings :- 7408 1190 , 7407 1010, 7413 0000, 7408 1990 or 7408 2990 ”
On the Corporate Social Responsibility the CII says the government should identify two large projects, one in each District which could be jointly developed through the CSR contributions of the desiring and those under compulsion to contribute to CSR. For example, under the GIDC building rules, each industry is mandated to invest in a water harvesting. Instead, there could be a contribution to a water harvesting project of a large scale undertaken and the companies given building permission asked to contribute to the fund.
