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Industry body hails Budget proposals

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, July 28 - The State unit of the North Eastern Small Scale Industries Association (NESSIA) has welcomed the budget proposals announced by Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

NESSIA State president Sailen Baruah and State general secretary Kumud Medhi at a meeting of entrepreneurs today thanked the Chief Minister and the Finance Minister for accepting the demands of the NESSIA regarding developing each village as an economic hub and engaging rural youths in productive works.

�We feel once our villages become self-sufficient economically, the whole of the State will flourish. Promotion of fisheries, dairy and cottage industries at village level will work as a catalyst for a rapid growth of the State. We also thank Industry and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary for being instrumental in infusing fund for development and growth of the small and micro industries along with implementation of the �Ease of doing business� scheme.

The NESSIA also appealed to the Industry Minister to ensure that the �Land Bank� proposed is not misutilised by opening godowns instead of industries.

Moreover, it added, 50 per cent of Land Bank land should be reserved for indigenous small and micro Industries.

The NESSIA further lauded Power Minister Pallab Lochan Das for taking keen interest in reducing VAT on LED bulbs and tubes to 6 per cent from 14.5 per cent. �This move by the Finance Minister and the Power Minister will revolutionise the use of LED in the State, reducing energy consumption to a great extent,� it said.

Baruah said that power consumption in Assam is increasing day by day and is expected to cross 1,600 MW by 2016-17. �Hence, conservation of power is urgently needed to overcome the present power crisis. This can be resolved by replacement of ordinary bulbs and tubelights by LED bulb and tubes, which can save at least 80-85 per cent power on reduction of VAT to 6 per cent. Now, common people can also afford to procure LED bulb for replacement of ordinary bulb/ tube etc., and the power scenario in the State will improve,� he said.

The NESSIA also supported reduction of VAT to 6 per cent from 14.5 per cent on packaged drinking water �which is an essential consumable of the common people�, and it urged the manufacturers of packaged drinking water to pass on the VAT benefits to the consumers.

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