KCCI calls it an eco-agri budget

[email protected] (The Hindu)
March 1, 2011

budget

Mangalore, March 1: The Union Budget has evoked mixed reaction from industry representatives here.

G.G. Mohandas Prabhu, president, Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), said that the Union Budget was an “eco-agri” budget. Its emphasis on agriculture and focus on cold chains was a far-sighted thought made by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The concessions to electric vehicles (EVs) would limit country's dependence on fossil fuels.

The Central Excise rates had been maintained, which was welcome. Industry circles expected an increase. However, nothing had been mentioned about tax, he said. About 130 items had been brought under the Central Excise (of a nominal 1 per cent). Implementation of direct taxes from April 2012 and the tabling in Parliament of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill was welcome. The budget could have been more liberal on Income Tax, he said. The fiscal deficit of 4.6 per cent of the GDP indicated a robust economy.

B. Madhava, secretary, Dakshina Kannada district unit of the CPI(M), welcomed the doubling of the “miserably-low” salary of “anganwadi” workers. Connecting the wages of those working within the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA) to the consumer price index was welcome, he said.

The Income Tax exemption for the middle classes and the proposal to reduce eligibility age for pension from 65 to 60 were good initiatives, he said.

But the budget was insensitive to the problems of the common man, according to him.

The Finance Minister's speech expressed concern over price rise but said nothing about controlling it. Strengthening of PDS was assured by political parties (that 35 kg of rice at the rate of Rs. 2 per kg would be given to each nuclear family) but never implemented, he said.

B.A. Nazeer, president, Kanara Small Industries' Association (KSIA), Baikampady, welcomed the implementation of Direct Tax Code (DTC) from April 1, 2012, and the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Constitution Amendment Bill in the present session of Parliament.

The proposal to enhance IT exemption limit by Rs. 20,000 was marginal compared to the high inflation rate. Excise duty could have been reduced to 8 per cent to stimulate the manufacturing sector particularly SSIs.

The SSIs' demand of increasing Central Excise limit to Rs. 3 crore had been ignored. No encouragement to SSI sector had been proposed, he said.


Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 29,2020

Bengaluru, May 29: The hotel industry is one of the worst-hit industries due to lockdown, along with the tourism industry. Bengaluru's hotel industry has incurred a loss of around Rs 1200 crore during the lockdown period however, the hotels here are likely to open in June if the State government issues guidelines for the resumption of their services.

Speaking to media, PC Rao, President, Bangalore Hotelier's Association said, "It's not only the loss of business, but we have lost the customer base as well. 
We don't expect any good future for the next six months. There will be a slow down in the business even after opening."

"We have requested our CM to give first preference to the hotels. We are going to restart our business in June if granted permission. Around 10 per cent of the hotels cannot open at all. They are in the stage of merging or closing down position. Few hotels may open after five or six months," he added.

He continued saying that many hotels are for sale but there are no buyers. There are around 21,000 restaurants in Bangalore, 3500 hotels with rooms and restaurant which has an average turnover of Rs 20 crores per day, Rao informed.

"We expect losses of around Rs 1200 crores in these two months. We are giving special online training to all the hoteliers and to our managers particularly to deal with the COVID-19 situation, including how to deal with the guests, employees, how to start the hotel services. 

Each and every manager has already been trained and we are still continuing it. We will conduct face to face meeting as well and brief the managers," said Rao.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 12,2020

Bengaluru, May 12: The South Western Railway on Tuesday informed that a 'Shramik special train' has left Karnataka for Bihar carrying 1,428 migrants onboard.

The special train carrying migrants to Motihari, Bihar departed from Kabaka Puttur in Karnataka.

Passengers were observing social distancing norms during boarding.

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had recently granted permission for movement of stranded citizens including migrants labourers, workers, students, tourists to return to their native towns.

As per the list provided by the Karnataka government, South Western Railway is arranging special trains. These special trains are being run from point to point with no stoppages en-route.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 10,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 10: Eight foreign nationals from Italy and United Kingdom, who were undergoing treatment in Kerala, have recovered fully from COVID-19, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday.

The state reported 12 more positive cases of coronavirus on Thursday taking the total number of confirmed cases to 357, Vijayan said as he cautioned that the strict vigil against the pandemic will continue.

While the northern districts of Kannur and Kasaragod reported four cases each, two cases were reported from Malappuram district and one each from Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts, Vijayan told reporters after a COVID-19 review meeting here.

Of the eight foreign nationals, seven were undergoing treatment at the Ernakulam Medical College Hospital and one in Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, Vijayan said, adding that some of the patients were in a serious condition.

The seven foreigners from UK, admitted in Ernakulam medical college, were part of the group which had on March 15 tried to leave the country without permission while being under observation at Munnar, a hill station in the state.

The Italian tourist in Thiruvananthapuram was staying at a resort at Varkala near here and was admitted to hospital on March 13, Vijayan said.

"The recovery of this UK tourist group, which comprised of 83 and 76-year-olds is a testimony to our robust healthcare system and good treatment extended to these patients," the chief minister said.

It has been 100 days since the first COVID-19 case was reported in the state and since then, a total of 357 cases have been confirmed and currently, 258 patients are under treatment in different hospitals.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.