New cess on fuel and failure to slash GST a body blow, says Kovai industry

C Siva Kumar, general secretary of Coimbatore Tirupur District Micro and Cottage Entrepreneurs Association (COTMA) expressed disappointment over no announcement on the reducing of GST from 18 per cent to five percent for engineering job works.

“Increase in excise duty on petrol and diesel by Re one will result in price rise of raw materials for the already suffering micro and cottage units. So, the government should re-consider and slash down this tax system,” he said.

COTMA was sore over not increasing the tax slab of salaried individuals. K Maniraj, president of Kovai Power Driven Pumps and Spares Manufacturers Association (KOPMA) wondered why the finance minister has repeated the scheme to offer Rs one crore loan for MSMEs in 59 minutes, while the initiative was practically a failure.

Though Coimbatore was declared a Smart City, there has been no new project to develop railway stations or announcement of new trains. It is evident that the Central government has blatantly ignored the needs of this industrial city, he said.

G Karthikeyan, Convenor of Taxation Panel, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Coimbatore Zone, expressing a positive view said that the proposal to provide additional relief of Rs 1. 50 lakh towards interest for home loans up to Rs 45 lakh would not only increase investment in housing sector, but also help middle class taxpayers to avail Rs 3.5 lakh as deduction for home loan interest.

M Ramamurthy, president of Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (Codissia) urged the central government to consider annual turnover limit of 25 per cent corporate tax to be extended to proprietor and partnership companies which are predominant in MSMEs sector.