GCCI hails mini-Budget measures

While welcoming a host of tax concessions and notifications declared by the Union finance ministry on Thursday, the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) here on Friday said that the measures would reactivate the economy of the country in a major way.

The steps would also mean that the government intends to push ahead economic reforms and the measures would provide relief to the consumers and enhance the feel good factor in the economy, said Shreyas V Pandya, president of the chamber in a statement.

"The measures which include no income tax returns to be filed by pensioners without taxable income and no income tax returns for salaried employees earning up to Rs 1.5 lakh will benefit nearly eight million tax payers in the country. The tourism industry has got a fillip from the measures announced including abolition of the 15 per cent inland air travel tax and the Rs 500 foreign travel tax," said Pandya.

This would fuel a boom in passenger traffic in the country. Last year the domestic travel had witnessed a double-digit growth and with the latest announcement, the domestic travel growth in air-traffic segment would be much higher.

GCCI also praised the government's decision to reduce customs duty on power transmission and distribution equipment from 25 per cent to 10 per cent and customs duty on electricity meteres reduced from 25 per cent to 15 per cent.

"These reductions are likely to reduce the cost of electricity by 7-9 paise per unit," Pandya added.