The excise duty hike announced in the Budget has come as a dampener to the small industries in Coimbatore that depend on the engineering sector for their business, particularly the pump industry in which Coimbatore has a dominant presence in the country.

The garment exporters at Tirupur fear that the forex inflow into mutual funds may lead to fluctuation in currency exchange value.

Pump makers

Mr R. R. Ranghanathen, President, the Southern India Engineering Manufacturers' Association, said the hike in excise duty from 4 per cent to 5 per cent on pumpsets and pumps would widen the difference in the selling price of pumps manufactured by the organised and un-organised sectors, which was not “good for the branded pump manufacturers.” Besides, farmers will also be affected.

He said the industry was disappointed over the Budget being silent on the demand for a TUF for the engineering industry (on the lines of the TUF for the textile sector).

It was also expecting announcements about big ticket investment in the power sector which also did not materialise.

CST

Mr M. Kandhaswami, President of the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (Codissia), said the demand for bringing down the CST to zero per cent had not been implemented for the past three years.

The levy of MAT on development of SEZ “is not necessary” as it would affect the growth of industries.

The request for increasing the limit for compulsory audit for IT purposes also was ignored.

MSME

However, both welcomed a slew of positive announcements for MSMEs like reduction in surcharge on corporate IT by 2.5 per cent, allocation of Rs 5,000 crore to SIDBI to support Micro and Small Industries.

Allocation of Rs 500 core to National Skill Development Scheme would help bridge the shortage in the availability of skilled labour, increased spending on rural housing that would increase the demand for domestic pumpsets, reduction in basic duty on farm equipments etc.

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