Industry bodies express mixed reactions

The captains of trade and industry have expressed mixed reactions over the budget proposals announced by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday.

Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FKCCI) President K Ravi said due to GST implementation it was a foregone conclusion that the budgetary exercise has to concentrate mostly on the expenditure front and not much on the revenue front.

"It was invariably a "Socio-Economic" budget and Siddaramaiah is well versed in it. It was indeed a speech focused on how his expenditure towards the social sector has benefited in the growth of GSDP touching 8.5%. Agriculture and Industry growing more than 4.5% and Service sector with a growth of 10.5%. He seems to have been inspired by Nobel Laureate Dr Amartya Sen's Social Economics," he said.

FKCCI is thankful to Chief Minister for considering the chamber's wish for increasing the budgetary allocation to Rs 1,681 crore for industries.

"We are also happy that he has accepted some of our Pre-budget recommendations regarding Centre of Excellence for Industry 4.0, (Robotics, IOT and Artificial Intelligence), Infrastructure facility for Peenya Industrial Estate and Cluster Development. So also developing 11 new industrial townships by KSSIDC in Tier II & III cities for MSME Sector," Ravi said.

Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (Kassia) President K Hanumanthe Gowda said in an election oriented budget Chief Minister Siddharamaiah has attempted to address the multiple needs of constituencies of the State.

"Kassia welcomes measures aimed at supporting the SMEs in the State by making provisions to improve the basic infrastructure at the Peenya Industrial Estate, creation of logistics parks at Bengaluru and Hubballi, creation of 11 new industrial estates, provision of loans for micro
enterprises, interest subsidy of 10% for new SMEs for the first five years, among others," he said.

Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) termed the Karnataka State Budget as a "Farmer and Industry-Friendly Budget" with specific focus on rural-urban development.

"The Chief Minister states that the implementation of Karnataka Model of e-way Bill in the entire country is a matter of pride to the State. It would bring in qualitative change in tax compliance and thus streamline the implementation of GST," BCIC stated.

S Venkataramani, Chairman of State Taxes Expert Committee of BCICI commended the State Government's directional thrust for infrastructure development especially in and around Bengaluru which is very essential to safeguard the 'Brand Bengaluru' in the global community.