Srinagar
Federation of Chambers of Industries Kashmir (FCIK) has flayed the proposals for industry and trade in the budget presented by the Finance Minister in state assembly On Thursday and termed these inaccurate, insufficient and discriminatory.
In a statement spokesman FCIK said, “as the last nail in the coffin of indigenous industry which has been reeling under tremendous stress post floods particularly after the implementation of GST law in the state.”
They said that the state government has backtracked from its own promise of continuing with 100% tax reimbursement to the industry under the new tax regime implemented against the will of people as well as the industrial community.
However, the budget proposals suggest reimbursement of SGST on value addition only. It is highly deplorable that the Finance Minister has not considered the majority of local industrial units even at par with a small section of the industry by extending similar tax benefits as those extended recently to them under SROs 519 and 521, the members said. How can the state Finance Minister be involved in brazen discrimination by paying 42% of CGST besides 100% of SGST to a section of industrial units while denying benefits to the left out local units, the members questioned.
The members also rejected the proposal of 33% interest subvention for restructured and rescheduled accounts of trade and industry post floods terming it insufficient unlikely to help these accounts from slipping into non-performing assets (NPAs). They accused the present finance minister of failing in persuading rather scuttling the state government recommendations for a package from central government to fund the entire interest on these accounts for 8 years after the moratorium of 2 years.
FCIK has also noted with dismay that while the amnesty on surcharge and interest on power dues to industry was announced in the previous budget also, yet the government order was not issued for full one year after which the relief has been rehashed in next year’s budget.
FCIK, however, expressed a sigh of relief on the continuation of toll tax with an increase in its rates and hoped that this is not reversed under tremendous pressure from the interested trading community of Jammu.
FCIK terms other small-time measures for the industry as inaccurate as these cannot turn around the dying industry.
FCIK is in touch with its constituent members and will take an appropriate future course of action in the matter.
The organization will also consult other industrial organizations in the state for devising a common strategy to fight out the discrimination with a large section of the manufacturing sector.
