The trade and industry sector in the State welcomed the Union Budget's proposal to raise infrastructure spending by 23 per cent, focus on setting up mega power projects and increase the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund corpus. The Rs 2,000 crore allotted for warehousing and the realisation that Public-private partnership is necessary in infrastructure building was also appreciated.

Mr Anand Menon, President, Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the chamber is however disappointed that there has been no reduction in the Central Excise Duty and Service Tax rate and that more services are to be brought into the service tax net. Service tax on air travel and hotel and hospital stays is most unfortunate. We are also disappointed about the fact that SEZ's are to come under (Minimum Alternate Tax) MAT and that MAT is to be increased to18.5 per cent.

The Chamber also hailed the decision to introduce the new Companies Bill and the reduction of surcharge for companies from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent, he said.

Mr P.Pratapachandran, President, Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, pointed out that reduction in the price of cement and reduction in the interest rate of home loans will boost the construction sector. He said that fund allocation to Kochi Port, Special Economic Zone and City Development are also added plus points of the budget.

Metro Rail shunned

The Metro Rail, which could be a new icon to Kerala, especially to Kochi, was not at all considered and there is no fund allocation for this project. This is one of the negative highlight of the budget, he added.

According to Mr Deepak L.Aswani, Chairman of Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry, emphasis on building infrastructure facilities is a welcome step and the reduction in price of cement and steel will certainly help the real estate sector. However, the hike in MAT on the corporate sector to 18.5 per cent from 18 per cent is a concern, he said.

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