Industries have sought measures like deferment of tax and loan payments, concessional power tariffs and relaxation of NPA norms and time frames for board meetings in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“The industry slowdown, coupled with COVID-19, has led to a challenging situation for all businesses. It is important for the government to boost market sentiment through a slew of measures so that the industry does not cut capacity utilisation, resulting in job cuts. It is important now to save jobs,” Hari K. Thiagarajan, chairman, CII Tamil Nadu State Council, told The Hindu. He sought duty exemption for products imported from China, including dyes and chemicals, non-woven material, resins used in the plastic industry and automotive components, which will help the textile and manufacturing sectors.
Mr. Thiagarajan said 40% of yarn exports from India went to China, which was a major destination. “We request the government to provide 5-6% as return on state taxes and levies, which is nil now. This will boost yarn exports to various markets,” he said.
Mr. Thiagarajan requested the Tamil Nadu government to provide a concession in power tariff of ₹1-2 per unit and the banks to offer a moratorium on repayment of the principal amount.
“A lot of loans are coming up for repayment in the fourth quarter [January-March]. We request a moratorium on this to be granted till the first quarter as many expect it will take 4-5 months for things to settle down. Also, banks should provide working capital, which is very much needed,” he added.
Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, president, Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the spread of COVID-19 was leading to shrinkage of exports, cessation of production, non-availability of particular imports and slowdown in consumption, among other issues. “Extraordinary circumstances demand extraordinary measures,” he said. The MCCI sought deferment of due date for payment of GST for March 2020.