Budget to focus on jobs, export promotion in budget, says Khattar
Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday said the state government will focus on creating better infrastructure to boost industries and provide support to sectors for maximising employment generation and exports
Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday said the state government will focus on creating better infrastructure to boost industries and provide support to sectors for maximising employment generation and exports.
Khattar, who was interacting with the media at the PWD guest house in Gurugram, after holding a pre-budget consultative meeting with industrial and manufacturing associations, said the focus of the government will be on booting the food processing industry, export-oriented manufacturing units and small and medium enterprises.
“Industrial associations from Gurugram and other parts of the state met me and shared their suggestions and views as part of the pre-budget consultation process. Issues pertaining to subsidies and related to value-added tax (VAT) were also raised. Our focus in the upcoming state budget will be to promote exports, generate employment and boost the production of millets as 2023 has been declared as International Year of Millets,” said Khattar.
The chief minister also said the suggestions received from the industrial associations will be discussed in detail and their concerns will be addressed in the budget, which is expected to be presented after February 20.
Khattar said the finances of the state are sound and the annual growth in the GDP (gross domestic product) also gives a much higher leverage to the government to spend more in key areas.
The industrialists present at the meeting said they shared their concerns with the chief minister and urged him to make land available at reasonable rates for setting up industrial units, creating better infrastructure, and also ensure that export-related duty benefits are given.
JN Mangla, president of Gurgaon Industrial Association (GIA), said that they asked the government to set up research and development infrastructure for the automobile parts manufacturing industry.
“We also want the government to provide a freight subsidy to exporters so that they can survive the competition. The government has created an export promotion council but it does not have the necessary budget for becoming effective and functional,” said Mangla.
The GIA also urged Khattar to create infrastructure, so that entrepreneurs can avail of plug and play facilities, residential facilities for workers in industrial areas and better amenities in the already developed industrial areas such as Udyog Vihar.
The IMT Manesar Industrial Association demanded that Metro rail connectivity is extended to Manesar and asked the chief minister to ensure that piped natural gas (PNG) supply Infrastructure is created, so that they do not have to suffer during periods of high pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Manoj Tyagi, general secretary of the IMT Manesar Industrial Association, said that centralised fire control system and centralised effluent treatment systems should come up in Manesar to improve these processes and thereby, help the industry. He also demanded that maintenance of the industrial areas should be carried out by a specialised body instead of the municipal corporations as they already have a heavy workload.
Raj Chawla, general secretary, Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that they asked CM Khattar to resolve issues pertaining to Goods and Services Tax. “The industry is still facing a lot of issues in converting VAT to GST. We have also asked the state government to provide land at cheaper leases so that factories can be set up. Presently, the cost is too high,” he said.
Shripal Sharma, president, Kadipur Industrial Association said that they asked the chief minister to create infrastructure and regularise it.