Positive for MSMEs, northern states: CII

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 28

Manu Kochhar, Chairman, CII Uttarakhand State Council, has said today’s Union Budget has positive announcements for the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector. He said the setting up of a Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) Bank with a corpus of Rs 20,000 crore and a credit guarantee corpus of Rs 3,000 crore would encourage MSMEs to grow and graduate to the next level. Further, the setting up of a trade receivables discounting system for electronically financing trade receivables of MSMEs would ease working capital pressure on the sector.

“The government has complemented its Make in India campaign by announcing policy measures to promote skill development in the country,” said Vijay K Thadani, Chairman, Special Task Force on Skill and Education, CII Northern Region, and CEO, NIIT Ltd. In this regard, the launch of the National Skill Mission to consolidate skill initiatives spread across several ministries was a welcome step to train and reap the benefits of demographic dividends, he added.

“Understanding that an enabling infrastructure was critical for reviving growth and also for attracting investments, the Union Budget has also put special emphasis on the infrastructure sector,” said Vibha Malhotra, Director, CII Uttarakhand State Council.

“In the Budget, the Finance Minister has proposed increase in infrastructure spending to the tune of Rs 70,000 crore in 2015-16. He has also announced an increased outlay for roads and railways. These initiatives are very important for the northern region, which is landlocked, and Uttarakhand as well,” she added. She also welcomed the announcement to set up an Apprenticeship Training Institute for Women in Uttarakhand.

A provision for online central excise and service tax registration in two working days would contribute to ease in starting business in the country.

Pikender Pal Singh, Regional Director, CII Northern Region, listed some of specific measures in the Budget that would benefit the northern region such as AIIMS like institutions in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir; IIMs in Jammu and Kashmir; a Postgraduate Institute of Horticulture Research and Education at Amritsar in Punjab; a National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research in Rajasthan; a Apprenticeship Training Institute for Women in Haryana and Uttarakhand; a provision of resources for world heritage sites such as Kumbalgarh and other hill forts of Rajasthan; Leh Palace, Ladakh, Varanasi temple town, Uttar Pradesh; Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, Punjab.

Pikender Pal Singh said increasing the number of countries covered under the ‘Visa on Arrival’ scheme to 150 would attract a greater number of tourists to the country and especially the northern region. This would benefit the state also and boost its economy.