PANJIM: The State Budget presented by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant evoked a mixed response from Goa’s industry bodies on Wednesday.
While, the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) and the National Restaurant Association of India, Goa Chapter welcomed the State budget, the Goa Small industries Association (GSIA) lamented that the government is not really serious to improve the manufacturing sector in the State
“The GCCI congratulates Sawant for crossing Rs 1 lakh crore in Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) with 10.33% record rise from last year. The Chief Minister has once again come up with a development-oriented budget aimed at kick starting the state's economy which has been sluggish for the last couple of years,” said GCCI President Ralph de Sousa.
‘Govt ignoring
manufacturing sector’
Goa State Industries Association (GSIA) president Damodar Kochkar said that the government is not really serious to improve the manufacturing sector in the State.
“The Economic Survey has clearly shown that the manufacturing industry is contributing 72.4% of the State’s income in secondary sector. Also, it is highly alarming to note from the same survey that sectoral growth rate of manufacturing sector to GSDP is going negative year after year thereby decreasing job creation in the State.
“Lot of big announcements have been made but we find there is nothing much for the manufacturing industry. We expected that Chief Minister would make a higher allocation for the infrastructure in the industrial estates. Last year Rs 10 crore were allocated but only Rs 5 crore were released. This year an allocation of Rs 10 crore has been made to raise coverage under Credit Guarantee Fund trust for MSMEs up to 95%,” Kochkar said.
“No new industry would like to come to Goa looking at the infrastructure in our industrial estates. There is no continuity in decision making as GIDC managing director is changed frequently. Making announcements only does not solve the problems, implementation is most important,” said Kochkar.
Reduction of excise duty on high-end liquor
National Restaurant Association of India Goa Chapter head Prahlad Sukhtankar said that the reduction of excise duty on high-end liquor and the promotion of the local heritage drink, feni, for international markets is a positive step towards boosting the State's tourism industry. The launch of a single-window app for government applications and the simplification of compliance procedures will certainly help in ease of doing business for the restaurant industry.
“We appreciate the government's efforts towards decriminalisation of provisions, which will help reduce the burden on businesses. The shift towards online payments across all government platforms is a welcome move towards a cashless economy and will help prevent corruption in government offices,” Sukhtankar said.
‘Budget optimistic’
ASSOCHAM Goa Council Chairman Manguirish Pai Raikar said that the budget is optimistic and far reaching, trying to find space for each and every sector in order to achieve the goal of making Swayampurna Goa. Presently, the economy of Goa is in turbulent state, hence lot of efforts has been made to bridge the gap between revenue and expenditure. This budget has also laid emphasis on digitisation and creation of data based on technology which is much appreciated. This data created will help the State in its focused approach of development.