Rise in fuel price leaves residents concerned

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 5

Though the personal income tax rates have been left untouched, a hike in customs duty on fuel, gold and precious items has left residents, mainly traders, worried.

Raj Kumar, a shopkeeper, said the common man did not find any respite in the Union Budget. The demand of bringing petrol and diesel under the GST remains unmet and, in contrast, hike in price will jack up the cost of essential items. He said additional Rs 1.5 lakh tax relief on home loan for purchase of a house up to Rs 45 lakh would be a boon for middle-income families.

Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal president Piara Lal Seth said the hike in fuel prices would increase the input cost of the MSME sector which had already been battling liquidity crisis since demonetisation and the GST. “Middle-income group did not receive any benefit in the tax slab. Rs 3,000 per month pension for traders with less than Rs 1.50 crore annual turnover is highly insufficient,” he said.

Gunbir Singh, president, Dilbir Foundation, said duty hike on tiles, cashew kernels, vinyl flooring, auto parts, selected synthetic rubber, digital, video recorder and CCTV camera would affect the purchasing power of the middle-class people. “A new PPP model may accelerate the growth of the Indian Railways. It is good that start-ups were shown priority, like angel tax, as they will not require scrutiny from the Income Tax Department.”

Ashok Sethi, Director, Punjab Rice Millers and Exporters Association, said the present government had assured the rice exporters that interest subvention would be provided to boost exports, but the Budget didn’t have any mention.

Lok Sabha MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla said Narendra Modi-led Central Government showed its anti-Punjab face by not sparing a single thought for border farmers. There is nothing to lift farmers out of the morass of mounting debt. He felt that youth were also neglected.

Dr SS Chhina, a local resident, said the road map to accomplish the goals in agriculture is missing in the Budget. No special attention has been given to rural areas to bridge the gap in urban and rural areas, he added.