PANJIM: In a letter to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Goa State Industries Association (GSIA) and Travel & Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) Verna Industries Association (VIA) have strongly opposed the waiver of Rs 277.08 crore to the casino industry.
The letter said that it is very disheartening that the government is contemplating to waive off this huge sum to the casino industry and allowed it to pay the annual recurrence fee on a monthly basis in spite of the fact that the State claims to face a financial crisis.
While industries, small traders, restaurants, retail wine shops, transport operators and other small businesses have been struggling to survive during the lockdowns, several requests to the government for waiver of fees have been ignored with the reason that the State is facing a financial crunch.
“However, State government has now come out with a decision to waive crores of rupees to the casino industry, which is truly unacceptable. While MSMEs and other small businesses are struggling against all odds without the support of Goa government, to achieve the Prime Minister’s clarion call for an Atma Nirbhar Bharat, the MSMEs and other industry being the major drivers of the economy are being given the last priority while consideration is being given by the Goa government to casinos,” said the letter.
Most of the requests made by the industries were rejected on grounds that the State has been facing financial crisis and unable to forgo revenue loss.
“Industry totally opposes the government’s move to give waivers to selected cash rich sectors. If government is planning to give waiver of fees during the lockdown period, the same rule must be made applicable across the board to all the sectors. Industry is confident that the government will accept the request made by the industry and apply the waiver to every sector which has been trying to sustain themselves through these pandemic times,” the letter stated.
The letter has been signed and submitted to Chief Minister on Monday. The signatories are CII Goa State Council chairman Blaise Costabir, GCCI president Manoj Caculo, GSIA president Damodar Kochkar, TTAG president Nilesh Shah and VIA president Pradip A P da Costa.
