PANJIM: The academicians, businessmen and chartered accountants are expecting what the new government will deliver in their Budget which will be tabled in the Assembly on Wednesday.
It is an opportunity for the new government to ensure that the voters who voted for this government are satisfied.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
Joy Chowdhury, Assistant Professor General Management and Economics, Goa Institute of Management (GIM), believes that during the forthcoming Budget the focus should be more on employment generation and infrastructural development.
“The Budget should also focus on raising the allocation toward the Health sector. More spending is required in the Education sector, especially in technical education which will equip the students with right kind of skill sets required for modern industries. Focus on developing infrastructure for sectors such as IT, Pharmaceuticals and Biotech is also expected. On the other hand, the roadmap for reducing the fiscal deficit is also expected,” Joy said.
Ravi Shankar, executive director, Drishti Marine feels that with a fresh endorsement from the people, we expect to see a ramp up of the previous government policies with a vision of making Goa Atmanirbhar based on the principles of Vikas and Virasat.
“This is an opportunity to make Tourism the core foundation of Goa’s economy. The Budgets should help incentivise sustainable tourism investments which attract higher spending tourists into the State. Large scale tourism projects should be developed to increase the length of stay and type of visitor into locations that do not burden the existing infrastructure. Develop iconic and differentiated tourist attractions to drive in tourists from other segments and not just beach tourism,” Ravi Shankar said.
“Steps should be taken to build Marine Tourism Infrastructure for example comprehensive cruise terminal, facilitate and incentivise investment infrastructure for home porting. A visitor charge for beaches would be a great way to build a sustainable beach tourism model in the days to come”, he added.
Parixit Pai Fondekar, founder, Kamaxi College of Culinary Arts expects that, “The State government can look into creating a special scheme or make provisions of a soft skill loan which will help more youth in getting skilled and being employment-ready.”
The Managing Committee of Goa branch of Western India Regional Council (WIRC) of Institutes of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) requested amendments to Value-Added Tax (VAT) and other local commercial laws.
The committee has stressed on the important demand of extension and expansion of scope of the one-time settlement scheme of Goa VAT, which would not only benefit the State exchequer, but also reduce litigation and also serve as a welcome breather to the State industry at large.
