Chambers of commerce laud State Budget

Posted on February 11, 2017 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The Chambers of Commerce and Business Confederations lauded the Budget statement 2017-18 by state Finance minister Amit Mitra. The state Budget was placed at the Assembly on Friday. They believe that this Budget after demonetisation can help the state’s growth.

Talking on the Budget, Rakesh Shah, President, Bharat Chamber of Commerce, Kolkata, said it is a balanced Budget.

Chandra Sekhar Ghosh, President-Designate, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said he believes this Budget is a welfare oriented exercise in the aftermath of demonetisation.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) also welcomed the proposals to earmark Rs 50 crore for Small and Medium Enterprises and Rs 100 crore for farmers.

The State Finance Minister’s announcement on salary increase for Anganwadi workers and Asha workers reflect the State Government’s “sincere will” to improve health and education at the grassroots level, said Rupali Basu, Vice Chairperson, CII Bengal.

In a statement released by Merchants’ Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), they said: finance minister proposed a number of steps in relation to VAT which will be subsumed over GST, is put in place.

রাজ্য বাজেটের প্রশংসা চেম্বার্স অফ কমার্সগুলির

অর্থমন্ত্রীর রাজ্য বাজেটের (২০১৭-১৮) প্রশংসা করল শিল্পমহল। শুক্রবার বিধানসভায় রাজ্য বাজেট পেশ করেন অর্থমন্ত্রী অমিত মিত্র। তাদের বিশ্বাস নোটবাতিলের পর এই বাজেট রাজ্যের বৃদ্ধিতে অনেক সাহায্য করবে।

রাজ্য বাজেট সম্পর্কে কলকাতার ভারত চেম্বার অফ কমার্সের রাকেশ শাহ বলেন, এটা একটি সুষম ব্যালেন্সড বাজেট।

দ্য বেঙ্গল চেম্বার অফ কমার্স এবং ইন্ডাস্ট্রির ডেজিগনেটেড সভাপতি চন্দ্রশেখর ঘোষ বলেন, নোট বাতিলের পর এটি একটি কৌশলপূর্ণ বাজেট।

ক্ষুদ্র মাঝারি শিল্পের কারিগরদের জন্য ৫০ কোটি টাকা এবং কৃষকদের জন্য ১০০ কোটি টাকা বরাদ্দের প্রস্তাবকে স্বাগত জানিয়েছে কনফেডারেশন অফ ইন্ডিয়ান ইন্ডাস্ট্রি।

সি আই আই এর ভাইস চেয়ারপার্সন রূপালী বসু বলেন, অঙ্গনওয়াড়ি ও আশা কর্মীদের বেতন বৃদ্ধির কথা ঘোষণা করেছেন অর্থমন্ত্রী, অতএব সরকার স্বাস্থ্য ও শিক্ষার উন্নতিতে বিশেষ জোর দিচ্ছেন।

মার্চেন্ট চেম্বার অফ কমার্স অ্যান্ড ইন্ডাস্ট্রি একটি বিবৃতিতে তারা বলেন, অর্থমন্ত্রীর ভ্যাট সম্পর্কিত অনেকগুলি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ পদক্ষেপ নিয়েছেন যা জি এস টি চালু হলে তার অন্তর্ভুক্ত হবে।

Chambers of commerce laud ‘forward-looking’ Budget

Posted on June 25, 2016 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday congratulated state Finance Minister Dr Amit Mitra for presenting a forward looking Budget for 2016-17, with an almost five-fold increase in planned expenditure that focuses on education, employment, agriculture and the MSME sector.

The Chamber said it was encouraging that the state has also been able to achieve a robust growth of seven times in agriculture and four times in infrastructure development in the past five years, while at the same time pushing down fiscal and revenue deficits within manageable limits even against the backdrop of a huge inherited debt burden of over Rs. 2.5 lakh crore.

Rakesh Shah, president of Bharat Chamber of Commerce, Kolkata said: “Amit Mitra deserves rich accolades for the most remarkable accomplishments in terms of the reduction in fiscal deficit and revenue deficit. This is despite large scale implementation of several ambitious schemes and projects for growth in the social development sector, which are being emulated in other States of the country.”

Anil Vaswani, Chairman, CII West Bengal State Council said that the Budget is a developmental one “with a focus on small-scale industries, health, infrastructure and education. The Finance Minister has made proposals to expedite speedy dispute resolution of VAT appeal cases. This will certainly go a long a long way in improving business environment in the state.”

Business made easy in Bengal: WB CM

Posted on June 1, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The chief minister’s office (CMO) organised a meeting with leading industry bodies and captains at Town Hall today. The basic talking point of the Town Hall meeting was “Business made easy in Bengal”.

Faster clearances

At the meeting, the Chief Minister announced that the state government will issue provisional certificate of clearance for projects within 15 days. She also announced that trade licenses issued in urban areas will now be required to be renewed every three years – she asked officials to make it 5 years – instead of one year.

The West Bengal Government said that mutation of land for industrial units could be done within three weeks and the land conversion could now be allowed a month. In an integrated initiative, the State has simplified much of the paper work and processes for setting up businesses in the State.

“We want healthy competition among companies in Bengal for more investment. We have started MSME assistance centres in every district. We have started e-VAT system,” she said.

Through amendments of relevant laws and time-bound commitment for clearances, the State government has on Monday said it ushered in easy ways of doing business.

The Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee assured business community that right from issuing trade licenses to sanctioning of building plans, every statutory sanction was to be delivered within prescribed timeline of between 15 to 30 days.

Stress on e-governance

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Amit Mitra, State Finance and Industry Minister, said, “WB CM took the initiative to use IT as a tool for governance. Bengal received award in e-governance for revenue and Kanyashree. Using IT as a tool for distributing benefits to girls registered under Kanyashree is a vision of WB CM.”

He added that Bengal is the only State in India to have a full e-treasury and all payments are made through e-process. He said the government was implementing Integrated Financial Management System.

The Chief Minister asked investors to invest in the seven upcoming theme townships at Asansol-Durgapur, Kalyani, Bolpur, Siliguri, Domjur, Baruipur. She also highlighted that the government has initiated a project worth Rs 37,000 crore to boost the textile sector.

Ease of doing business

Flanked by Ministers and Bureaucrats, the Chief Minister announced that from now on self-certification and self-attestation would be allowed in all transactions with the Government.

Some 400 relationship managers, newly appointed by the industrial development wings would facilitate businesses. Among other measures is the exemption from pollution control certificates in case of new electricity connection. As a commitment towards the right to services, the State will issue within 15 days “no-objection” certificate for building plan under the West Bengal Town Country (Planning and Development) Act. “If it is not issued within 15 days, then it would considered as deemed to be approved,” said Amit Mitra, State’s Finance Minister.

In case of industrial estates or parks, State government industrial development arms such as WBIDC, WBSIDC, WBIIDC and Webel have been delegated the power to sanction building plan for industrial units.

WB CM to meet captains of industry today

Posted on June 1, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The chief minister’s office (CMO) will organize a meeting with leading industry bodies and captains at Town Hall today.

The basic talking point of the Town Hall meeting will be “Business made easy in Bengal”. WB CM is also likely take stock of the Rs 2.43 lakh crore worth of investment announced during the Bengal Global Business Summit in January.

Focus on key sectors

It is learnt that industry, IT and MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) departments have already prepared necessary notes for the meeting. Apart from these nodal industry departments, representatives from departments like power, labour, environment, water resources, urban development, fire, irrigation, land and panchayat will be present at the meeting.

The focus sectors identified by the state government include urban infrastructure and housing, IT (software and hardware), food processing, horticulture and floriculture, MSME and textiles, healthcare, education and skills, manufacturing, energy and infrastructure, hospitality and tourism, entertainment and financial services.

Captains of industry hail the move

P Roy, director general of Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), welcomed the development. “It is a very positive step taken by the chief minister,” he added.

MCC Chamber of Commerce assistant director-general Subhasis Roy said this step will boost the sentiment of industry. “The CM is doing the right thing. This will go a long way to attract investment in Bengal. The coordination between different departments is very crucial. This is what we need,” he added.

The director-general of Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Rajeev Singh, also felt that it is a very welcome move from the chief minister.

Bengal to woo IT cos at Analytics City

Posted on May 25, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Keeping up with its smart city initiatives, the state government is now working on plans to develop an `Analytics City’ near Kolkata to woo reputable IT firms dealing in data analysis. It will have the infrastructure of a smart city with residential and commercial complexes and other facilities.

The proposal of developing such a theme-based city was earlier mooted by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI). Discussions have been held with state urban development officials on the proposal.

The state government is already working on plans to develop a number of ‘theme-based’ townships and cities. Places like Bolpur, Kalyani, Asansol, Dumurjala, Baruipur and Debgram has been identified for such theme-based townships and a number of real estate developers have also shown interest to build these theme cities.

Besides, the state government is also working on plans to develop smart cities, keeping New Town, where a number of initiatives have already been taken, on top of the list.

Corporates hail ‘positive’ West Bengal Budget 2015-16

Posted on February 28, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The Bengal Inc has hailed the budget of West Bengal Finance Minister Dr Amit Mitra and termed it as a forward-looking and positive one.

The industry bodies, including the Indian Chamber of Commerce, MCC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bharat Chamber of Commerce, CII and Bengal National Chamber of Commerce (BNCCI), have hailed the budget.

ICC director general Rajiv Singh pointed out that despite the huge debt burden, which will go up to Rs 2.99 lakh crore, the Finance Minister has been able to make fund allotments to almost all growth sectors of the state’s economy. It was commendable that the state GDP growth rate was much higher at 10.48% compared to the all India figure of 7.5%. “Over the last three years, the state has been able to double the plan expenditure which was a record increase,” he added.

Bengal Chamber of Commerce director general P Roy feels that it is a forward-looking and people-oriented budget with focus on social sectors.

Bharat Chamber president Sajjan Bhajanka congratulated Mitra for presenting a fairly-balanced budget which he feels aims at generating new infrastructure, preserving the existing infrastructure, boosting agricultural productivity of the state, giving greater emphasis on employment generation and ensuring transparent governance.

MCC Chamber president Arun K Saraf hailed the budget for simplicity and reform in tax system. “Assessment procedure has been simplified and tax refund has been made speedier and time bound,” he added.

Chairman of Universal Success, Prasoon Mukherjee, congratulated Dr Mitra for the thrust on green energy and tourism. “He has declared VAT concessions for green energy generation which is a prudent initiative. The budget has also put stress on new tourism circuit which is good for Bengal. We can present the state as an attractive tourism destination,” he added.

Patton MD Sanjay Budhia said that Dr Mitra has unleashed major tax reforms which will boost industrialization in Bengal. Chairman of Sarda Group, G Sarda, said that the Finance Minister has ensured thrust on employment and also tried to direct the state economy towards development.