PANJIM: The marathon budget speech of Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman did not meet the expectations of industrialists in Goa. Soon after the announcement the Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industries members addressed the media and expressed their veiled dissatisfaction.
“On the onset, I must say that the proposals in the Union budget, was not 100 per cent as per our expectations. The industry was expecting much much more. However there are many things which will help the industry and all these will take a lot of time. We were expecting some immediate decisions or announcement to give a boost to the economy and would have brought money into the market which unfortunately we do not see in this budget,” said the President of the GCCI, Manoj Caculo.
The GCCI welcomed the allocation in education and skill development sector and the intention of the government respect the wealth creators and income tax payers. Also the setting up of an Investment Promotion Cell along with the allocation of Rs 27000 crore for commerce and industry development was appreciated.
However, the disappointment was that there was nothing specific related to Goa. “We were expecting something specifically for Goa but unfortunately it never happened especially in tourism front. Even though money is being spent to build museums there was nothing specific to Goa. We will wait for the fine print. Let us hope that Union finance minister may have missed out something while reading out the budget speech,” added Caculo.
The budget for agriculture has been put at Rs 2.83 lakh crore. “What is important that this money will be spent in improving our storage facilities, cold chain etc which will help our farmers to get better price for their produce and will also help them optimise their production levels,” said the president of GCCI.
There are many things in this budget which required clarity particularly on shifting of income tax regime and also on MSMEs. “We need some clarity on announcement on MSMEs. The builders will be benefited as they have got an additional one year tax holiday and government has learnt from their success stories.
Caculo added that the budget paves way for raising growth capital for PSU banks and providing support for the banking sector with an infusion of Rs 700 billion for PSU bank capitalisation and it has made it easy for FII and FDI to invest more funds in the country by lowering their risk.
Ulhas Dhumasker, Chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Goa Chapter said that, “I welcome it. The taxpayer’s charter is a good tool for the tax payers to know their rights. However, the ambitious target of ‘nominal’ 10 per cent GDP growth looks to me a bit far stretched and I have my doubts even though that India is one of the fifth largest economies of the world.”
President of the Goa Automobile Dealers Association (GADA), Prashant Joshi said that, “Even though GST is not a part of budget, an indication of rationalisation of GST rates in automobiles would have also brought much respite for the industry which is stumbling under extensive stress for more than a year now. On the other hand, liquidity support for NBFC’s will act as a confidence booster for them to lend, helping the auto sector. The continued focus on infrastructure and especially highways will support CV demand at current levels till high growth revival.”
Manguesh R Prabhugaonkar, Chairman, Indian Institute of Architects-Goa Chapter is of the view that, “Vision to promote heritage conservation and up-gradation of archeological sites reflects the essence of direction and priorities in the field of culture and tourism. This will enable our heritage precincts to showcase our characteristic architectural built and natural heritage in India. Also, this will open up new avenues of re-inventing a identity to such places of historic past.”
According to Dr Divya Singhal, Associate Professor and Chairperson of Centre for Social Sensitivity and Action, Goa Institute of Management there are three prominent themes of the new budget are (i) Aspirational India, (ii) Economic Development for all and, (iii) Caring society seems to be a good theoretical framework.
“But the question remains how this framework is translated into actual implementation. One thing which I like is that for SDG 4 there are some interesting plans that include degree level full-fledged online education programme and focus on apprenticeship. Skilling is also talked about. It looks good to have new lower income tax regime however I doubt that this will lead to any substantial tax saving as salaried class opting for this needs to forgo almost all tax exemptions e.g. Section 80 C, Section 80 D. Yes, no tax up to Rs 5 lakh income is for sure a happy sign for those in that bracket,” added Dr Singhal.
“Given the current economic scenario, the Hon’ble Finance Minister has presented the best budget focusing on aspirations, economic development and caring society. Steps to revive the economy will help attain the targeted growth rate for the next year.
Lalit Saraswat, Chairman CII Goa State Council & Director Sancoale Shipping Ltd. Said that this budget has laid significant focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) which will drive out corruption as there will be more clarity with digitization.
“Focusing on Goa, infra spending on cold storage, logistics and other areas would help the fisheries sector of the state. Encouraging farmer producer organisations for fisheries is also a welcome step for the state. Better disposable income due to lower personal income tax will help consumption and tourism in the state. The Finance Minister has also announced 100 more airports under the UDAN scheme, which will help in better regional connectivity and development,” added Saraswat.
Mangirish Salelkar, President of Goa Technology Association said that the price stabilization fund will reduce retail inflation. Make in India and jobs boost with tweaks in custom duty. “Government’s vision of using Artificial Intelligence, machine language, internet of things and data science technology as its base to boost the economy is a good sign. Data Center Parks across the nation and promoting futuristic technology like Quantum computing are progressive step. Several Indian start ups can now breathe a sigh of relief. If the government to increase the turnover limits for start ups to Rs 100 crore from R. 25 crore and provide relief on the tax burden on employees eligible for employee stock options (ESOPs),” said Salelkar.
