Assocham appeals to Centre to focus on spiritual tourism in Budget

Manguirish Pai Raiker, Chairman of the National Council for MSME of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), appealed to the central government to emphasize on Production Link Incentives (PIL) and spiritual tourism in the interim budget.

Speaking to ANI, Raiker said, "The government is taking a lot of initiatives to improve the business... We will be the third-largest economy very soon... PLI (Production Link Incentives) will be enhanced, more products will be brought in and there will be more scope for investments in India."

"Secondly, the government also plans for spiritual tourism which has attracted many people as we have seen in Varanasi and Ayodhya. Other spots will also be taken into consideration... I'm sure the new budget will bring in something for the promotion of these initiatives... There will be other initiatives taken on the health and education front. This is what we expect from the government," he added.

The Budget session of Parliament, the last session before the general elections expected in April-May, will begin on January 31 and is likely to continue till February 9.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the interim budget on February 1.

The session will begin with President Droupadi Murmu's address to the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament

The interim budget typically takes care of the fiscal needs of the intervening period till a government is formed after the Lok Sabha polls.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) issued a series of key recommendations ahead of the Budget presentation. They include meeting disinvestment targets and setting out a 3-year schedule for disinvestment; Subsuming petroleum, electricity & real estate in GST and aiming at a 3-rate structure; Raising capex by 20% to Rs 12 lakh crores and setting up a full-fledged Ministry of Investment.