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That Finance Minister Arun Jaitley addressed the requests of trade and industry associations here in the Budget came in for wide applause.
In his reaction, the Southern India Mills’ Association Chairman T Rajkumar thanked the Government for extending the optional route CENVAT for textiles. ‘We had sought continuation of optional route till GST is implemented to have a level playing field. The optional route has been in vogue from July 2004 and it has helped the industry achieve significant growth despite the recession in 2008-09 and 2010-11,’ he said, hailing the continuation.
He however appealed for reduction in the CST from 2 per cent to one per cent, as the Government had committed to phase out CST before implementing GST.
Import and exportThe exemption of cotton transport loading and unloading services from the purview of service tax, he said, would give relief to the industry and farmers as the mills in the South sourced more than 70 per cent of their raw material from upcountry markets.
The SIMA Chief hailed the 15 per cent allowance on investments made towards plant and machinery for over ₹25 crore, faster clearance of import and export cargos, and setting up of textile clusters, apart from various schemes for handlooms and skill development.
Duty freePresident of Tirupur Exporters’ Association A Sakthivel hailed the increase on duty free entitlement for import trimmings and embellishment from 3 to 5 per cent (of the value of exports) for the garment sector. ‘This should give us a cutting edge in the global market,’ he said, adding, ‘the inclusion of certain accessories and embellishments used for made-ups under the eligible list of duty-free import is another welcome move.’
‘The removal of customs duty on import of specified inputs for manufacture of spandex yarn would help reduce the cost of making the yarn domestically.’
Amidst cheer, the garment sector, which was expecting an announcement on continuation of interest subvention on packing credit (which expired on March 31, 2014) was disappointed that there was no mention in the Finance Minister’s budget speech.
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