The Tamil Nadu budget has come as a mixed bag containing several measures that would provide a fillip to the industries here, even while some of the expected reliefs were not being provided.

T. C. Thiagarajan, President, the Southern India Engineering Manufacturers’ Association (SIEMA), Coimbatore, reacting to the State budget presented by Finance Minister O. Paneerselvam today, said steps such as the  proposed green energy  corridors for the evacuation of wind power and the decision to hold a Global Investors’ Meet in Chennai were laudable.

The proposal to provide a grant of 70 per cent not exceeding Rs 2.5 crore to each cluster to put up common production infrastructure, besides a raw material bank and marketing infrastructure, was also welcome and he was confident that the Coimbatore-based COINDIA would be able to benefit from it. 

Thiagarajan, referring to the allocation of Rs 100 crore for skill development, felt that it would assist in developing a huge pool of skilled labour in diverse fields — one that was sorely needed by the industries here. The proposal to upgrade existing ITIs at a cost of Rs 50 crore would enable the students to equip themselves with the required skills.

However, he said, SIEMA was “disappointed” over the Finance Minister not  announcing any steps to give a fillip to engineering exports and  also relief on VAT for exports. The industry here was also hoping that he would extend some relief to the SMEs on issues relating to commercial taxes and pollution control, but these did not materialise. He hoped that the Minister would provide some concessions during the course of the budget session.

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