Patna, March 16: Special economic package for Bihar missing, the trade and industries bodies of the state found the Union budget insipid. They also denounced the proposal for two per cent rise in service tax and less than expected relief to taxpayers.
Expressing disappointment over Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s budget in the context of the state, Bihar Chamber of Commerce (BCC) president O.P. Sah said: “The budget once again disappointed Bihar. It was widely expected that the Centre would provide economically and industrially backward state status to Bihar and will frame special norms for the state on a par with Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh and the Northeast states.”
Referring to the announcements made in the budget for establishing two mega handloom parks in Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand and three weavers’ service centres in Mizoram, Nagaland and Jharkhand, Sah said: “Depriving Bihar of such centres shows the partisan attitude of the central government.”
Bihar Industries Association president KPS Keshri claimed that Bihar had once again been neglected in the budget as no state-specific announcements were made.
“The budget announced grants for various agriculture universities across the country but Bihar has been deprived of it,” he said.
The announcement making minimum 20 per cent purchase from the small and medium enterprises sector for the government and public sector units drew praise from Keshri.
Both the BIA and BCC said the people were expecting that the government would raise the income tax exemption limit up to Rs 3 lakh according the recommendation of the parliamentary standing committee. “It is unfortunate that the Union government did not give due consideration to the recommendation of such a high power committee and provided a meagre relief to the taxpayers. The increase in income tax exemption limit was the need of the hour because of the rising inflation,” Sah said.
Criticising the hike in service tax from 10 to 12 per cent, the BCC president said it was widely expected that at least the current rate of service tax would be maintained. “Such a big hike in service tax will have disastrous impact on people and adversely affect the trade and commerce,” Sah said.
Retail Traders’ Federation of Bihar’s general secretary Ramesh Chandra Talreja also criticised the budget for the increase in the excise duty and service tax and claimed that the move would prove to be inflationary. He also opposed the Centre’s move vis-à-vis foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail.
The regional vice-chairman (agriculture and food processing) of Confederation of Indian Industry, Satyajit Kumar, said: “This is neither a big announcement budget nor a big reform budget. It is a budget which has not addressed the core for private investment in the country.”
Kumar welcomed the budget announcements on fiscal consolidation and fiscal management. “The finance minister has promised to bring the fiscal deficit down to 5.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) besides keeping the total subsidy to 2 per cent of the GDP,” he added.
Public Awareness for Healthful Approach for Living medical director and physician Dr Diwaker Tejwaswi welcomed the price reduction of life-saving and essential drugs. He also appreciated the Centre’s move to impose higher tax on tobacco products.
