More Bouquets than brickbats for Budget!

By and large, textile industry has welcomed the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley?s Budget, hailing it as ?growth-oriented.? TEXPROCIL Chairman Ujwal Lahoti has welcomed the 5 per cent reduction in corporate income tax for medium and small enterprises with Rs 50 crore turnover. This will benefit a large number of MSMEs in the textile sector also. He appreciated that the Government will continue to take measures to boost growth as well as employment generation. He however stated that export sector, which was languishing on account of low overseas demand and rising protectionism, had not found a mention in the budget.

The decision of the Union Government to set up 100 international skill centres, continue with the existing tax structure for textile units, and support cluster approach for contract farming are all expected to benefit the textile industry. According to Southern India Mills? Association chairman M. Senthil Kumar, the main demand of the association to continue the existing tax structure till the GST is implemented has been considered. Additional allocation to the banks for NPA accounts, proposed labour reforms, and cluster approach for contract farming will benefit the cotton-based textile industry.

The Clothing Manufacturers? Association of India opines that the garment industry will benefit from the international skill centres that will be set up. ?The budget has several provisions that will help the sector grow faster,? says Rahul Mehta, president of CMAI.

(Await full-fledged Report on Budget in ITJ March 2017 Issu