The Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore (ICCIC) has urged the railways to give procurement priority to the city-based MSMEs for raw material needs.
In a memorandum submitted to Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in New Delhi, a delegation led by Chamber president D Nandakumar said the industrial city should be given priority for procurement as it has a lot of micro, small and medium enterprises, particularly in engineering, casting and automobiles.
Stating that MSMEs contribution to the manufacturing sector was nearly equal to that of public and private sector owned large industries, he said Coimbatore has been the embodiment of innovations and best practices in agro industries sourcing, automobiles, foundries and engineering for over 100 years.
The chamber also requested introduction of an overnight express train between the city and Bengaluru and its inclusion in the coming budget.
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Earlier in the day, while addressing a seminar on GST,
BJP National General Secretary and MP Bhupendra Yadav said that the government has given its nod to constitute a GST council which will decide on the tax rate, exempted goods and the threshold under the new taxation regime.
The GST is a new concept for the country and will benefit the nation, he said.
"GST is for economic justice. Simplification of taxes will benefit the nation and the citizens. This will bring more transparency," he added.
