Budget should focus on getting more investment: CII tells Tamil Nadu govt

The Confederation of Indian Industry (Tamil Nadu) has recommended to the state government that the forthcoming budget should be focused in bringing in more investment, especially in central and southern districts.

In a set of pre-budget recommendations submitted to the Minister of Finance and Human Resources Management Palanivel Thiaga Rajan recently, CII said more focus should be on the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector as it ensures job creation which is the need of the hour due to the challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic.

"The prime focus of the state budget should be to facilitate in bringing more investment especially in the central and southern districts of Tamil Nadu to ensure equitable growth," CII said in the recommendation.

For ease of doing business, the government should allow the companies to avail self-certification wherever possible for all licenses and renewals. "The Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programme by Customs is a successful example. Government needs to digitalize the licensing and renewal process through Tamil Nadu Single Window Portal and manual submissions may be discontinued," CII said.

Noting that the residential building sector has enormous potential for employment generation, the trade body said, treating the realty sector as an industry and providing investment incentives can boost the sector.

CII recommended that the focus on new technology, like use of drones and artificial intelligence-based decision support systems, should be equipped in the agriculture sector. There should be reduction in use of chemical fertilisers and use of low-cost organic inputs and supporting start-ups for innovations.

CII recommends the government to establish more specialised recycling centres for vehicle scrapping. "The recycling centres need to have special facilities to dismantle and reclaim as much as possible of the used car," it said.