Sh. Upkar Singh Ahuja, President, CICU in a statement said that demands of the MSME sector have not been fulfilled and nothing special package to MSME sector has been given. The industry was expecting Finical Assistant through MSME sector at a very reasonable interest which has not been in Annual Budget 2018-19 announced by Hon’ble Finance Minister, Sh. Arun Jaitley.
However, he appreciated some of the outcomes of the Annual Budget. He said that the focus on Irrigation and Agriculture is good. It will lead to more demands of the Tractors and agriculture implements and boost the Engineering industry in the Country.
He appreciated the Corporate Tax has been increased from Rs. 50 crore to Rs. 250 crores. It will create employment opportunities. He also said that health care scheme will be quite useful for the employees of the Corporate Sector. He further said that easy arability of Capital is a real benefit to MSMEs. The Mudra Yojna/Scheme is helpful for which Rs. 3 lakh Crores have been earmarked.
Sh. Pankaj Sharma, General Secretary, CICU gave comments on Annual Union Budget 2018-19 and appreciated the steps taken by the Arun Jaitley, Hon’ble Finance Minister, Government of India. He said that Rs. 7,000 crore for the apparel Industry is a good step and this will enhance the Exports opportunities for the Sector. He said that interest of Income from F.D/R.D increase to Rs. 50,000 and increase in Medical Facility from Rs. 3,000 to 50,000 to care the Senior Citizens is a good step. He said that there is no change in personal Income Tax structure even for the Senior Citizens. He further said that LTCG Tax exceeding Rs. 1 Lakh @ 10% w/o indexation and STCG Tax normal @15%, Tax on Income from EOF @15% have been introduced.
Sh. Angad Singh, Joint Secretary, CICU appreciated the reduction for Women Employee Contribution in the Provident Funds from 12% to 8%. It will encourage employment opportunities for Women. He also said that Railway Network enhancement and introducing Bharat Mala Project for Rs. 1,48,000 crores for Railway is a step for the betterment of the Railway Services. The redevelopment of 600 major Railway Station will give a good look to the Indian Culture.
They have also said that even the budget is good for the general public, Dalits and Farmers but there is no relaxation for MSMEs. No special package has been provided to boost the MSME sector which has got big dent due to demonetization and GST implementation.
Finance Minister has disappointed the whole MSME sector on the Finance. It was expected that some relaxation will be given in reducing the rate of interest for MSME sector but nothing has been done. The Members said that MSME sector is the second after the Agriculture in providing employment opportunities to the Youngster.
The Senior Members S/Sh. H.S Pahwa, Ashok Kumar Juneja, Vinod Thapar, Ram Lubhaya, S.S Bedi, Inderpal Singh, Hitesh Dang, Parminderjit Singh Sidhu, Rajnish Bansal, Jaspal Singh Shahpuri, Naveen Verma, Sham Gupta, Daljit Singh Dico, Kesho Ram Vij, Harcharan Singh, Gurcharan Singh, Vishal Kansal, MAninder Singh Chopra, Padam Aul, Madam Mridula Jain, were present in the live budget session said that Udan Scheme for creation of 56 more Ports and Airports will be helpful.
