Bengal business chambers laud Mitra's budget

Industrial captains and business chambers on Friday lauded the budget presented by West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, saying it was pro-development and help in ease of doing business.

"This is a developmental budget with a focus on small-scale industries, health, infrastructure and education. The Finance Minister has made proposals to expedite speedy dispute resolution of VAT appeal cases. This will certainly go a long a long way in improving business environment in the state.

"The provision for online TDS certificate will improve Ease of Doing Business in the state," said CII West Bengal state council chairman Anil Vaswani.

The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industries said the budget was "forward-looking".

It praised the finance minister for proposing an almost five fold increase in planned expenditure that focuses on education, employment, agriculture and the MSME sector.

In a statement, the Indian Chamber of Commerce said the budget focuses on primary sector revival and inclusive growth.

It said raising the profession tax exemption limit to Rs 10,000 per month for low salaried and wage earners would boost aggregate demand in the state economy.

"Extending Industrial Promotion Assistance Scheme for financial support to micro and small enterprises for a further period of 3 years would facilitate the manufacturing sector," it said.

However, it termed, as a dampener, the absence of a clearer roadmap on matching the fiscal consolidation needs of the government with the huge intended social sector spending, and lack of a detailed blueprint of fiscal incentives for big ticket investments and ancilliarization.

Patton Group Managing Director Sanjay Budhia called the Budget "extremely pragmatic, practical and people-centric" and said it will have an all-round positive impact on the state's economy.

--IANS

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