Budget will benefit industries: Ind experts

PUNE: Industry experts from the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) have pointed out that the government’s Interim Budget 2019-20, which was announced on Friday, has a social agenda and will eventually benefit the industries. Although, experts have welcomed the budget, they have pointed out that some part of the industry continues to face problems on the ground, hampering their development. 

Speaking on the budget, MCCIA President Pradeep Bhargava, said that the budget comes out as a very impressive balance sheet and it will have a long-term impact. “It has a very strong social agenda and has focused on infrastructure development be it highways, railways, waterways, airways which is very important,” he said. 

“Industry and industry associations should look at the budget from a broader and a long-term perspective. Benefits percolating to certain sections of the community like rural farmers and urban poor are the responsibility of the state and also the stakeholders. The contrast if not controlled will boomerang on the industry itself. The money flowing to the deprived section of society comes back into the economy by increasing their buying power. They will start consuming products and services that the industry provides, which will ultimately benefit the industry,” added Bhargava.

Speaking about the ongoing debate of employment generation, Bhargava said that there can’t be GDP growth without the growth of labour content. “GDP growth indicates jobs in different segments being created. Hence we need to wait for the right arithmetic before we debate about growth in jobs,” he added. 

Director General of MCCIA Prashant Girbane said that the budget addressed many constituencies especially farmers and individual taxpayers and at the same time managed to keep the fiscal deficit to a more acceptable level at 3.4 per cent. “The budget highlighted the policy of Direct Cash Transfers (DCT) to farmers. Part of Rs 6,000 per year reaching out to 12 crore farmers is expected to be disbursed in the next few weeks. It is significant not just for this budget but for the years to come,” added Prashant.

The director general pointed that the Centre’’s push to GST Council to allow quarterly return filing for MSMEs with turnover below Rs 5 crore will benefit 90 per cent of MSMEs.

Highlighting the issues of MSMEs, Past president of MCCIA SK Jain and Vice President of MCCIA Deepak Karandikar pointed out that MSMEs are facing major problems in getting loans from the banks.