The Union Budget announcement on Monday reducing Customs Duty on steel and ferrous and non-ferrous scrap is expected to bring down raw material prices for the engineering units in Coimbatore.

According to the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association president M.V. Ramesh Babu, several announcements are expected to benefit the MSMEs. For metal recyclers, import duty is exempted till end of March next year.

Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore, president C. Balasubramanian, said the government had taken the right steps in the budget and planned to increase its spending in different sectors. Coimbatore was a hub for textiles and MSMEs and the announcements would benefit these sectors. A mega textile park should be established here, he said. The trade and industry expected relief in Income Tax and there was no announcement in that regard, he said.

K.V. Karthik, president of Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association, said the proposals to increase allocation for micro irrigation, larger focus on Jal Jeevan Mission and thrust on affordable housing would benefit the pumpset industry. But, the industry was disappointed on the government not extending the moratorium of the emergency credit line guarantee scheme, he said.

Chairman of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, Southern Region, Israr Ahmed said the imposition of Customs Duty on leather would affect the competitiveness of the leather products manufacturers in the country.

The Federation of Coimbatore Industrial Associations expressed disappointment over the budget, saying there were no specific announcements to directly benefit the micro and small-scale units.

According to the Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts Micro and Cottage Entrepreneurs Association president C. Sivakumar, while some announcements for the MSMEs are expected to be beneficial, there is financial support to the micro units that are already hit by the lockdown.

The Coimbatore Compressor Industries Association said the budget should have had proposals to reduce GST and for infrastructure development for MSMEs.

Kovai Power Driven Pumps and Spares Manufacturers Association president K. Maniraj said the allocation for MSME sector was inadequate given the large number of units across the country and these units were hit by the pandemic.

G. Karthikeyan, a chartered accountant, said dispute resolution procedures had been strengthened for small IT payers and faceless assessments had been extended to apply to tribunals. These will benefit the tax payers.

Palat Vijayaraghavan, founder of Lawrencedale Agro Processing India, felt the focus on infrastructure for agriculture sector would be a game changer.

Published On : 02-02-2021

Source : The Hindu