Punjab Budget Session: Industry says Punjab govt needs to focus on relief packagehttps://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ludhiana/industry-says-punjab-govt-needs-to-focus-on-relief-package-5592155/

Punjab Budget Session: Industry says Punjab govt needs to focus on relief package

Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal in his budget speech had mentioned that Rs 1500 crore was earmarked to be paid as power subsidy as government had announced of providing power at Rs 5 a unit.

Industry says Punjab govt needs to focus on relief package
Industry captains in Punjab said that the state government needed to focus on relief packages to help industrial units in the state. (File)

A day after the state presented its annual budget, industry captains in Punjab said that the state government needed to focus on relief packages to help industrial units in the state.

Badish Jindal, president of the Federation of Small Industries Association, said: “Industry needs some package to survive. Rather than just focusing on taxes, they need to focus on relief packages.”

Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal in his budget speech had mentioned that Rs 1500 crore was earmarked to be paid as power subsidy as government had announced of providing power at Rs 5 a unit.

Jindal said, ”We are still getting power in the range of Rs 9-12 a unit after all the fixed charges and taxes are added up and another tariff hike is in the offing where we apprehend increase in fixed charges. However, if government pays up all subsidy, it comes out to be Rs 3500 crore. Therefore the government needs to check on the issue of providing power subsidy.”

About the e-way limit being increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs one lakh, Inderjit Singh Navyug, president of United Cycles Parts and Manufacturers Association, said: “It was earlier at Rs 1 lakh only. But government had reduced it to Rs 50,000 and after a hue and cry, it has restored it to Rs one lakh. It is not a big deal.”

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Upkar Singh, president of Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings, questioned no infrastructure improvement announcement for focal points by Punjab government in Monday’s budget.