Coimbatore : Various industrial and trade bodies in the region welcomed the Union Budget presented by Union Minister, Piyush Goel on Friday, particularly on the announcement of Rs.6,000 per year for the farmers having below two hectares of land.

The scheme would benefit millions of cotton farmers, as the cotton crop gets affected in certain States and the amount would benefit the farmers, Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) Chairman, P Nataraj said.

Nataraj also welcomed the announcement of Pension Scheme for the workers in the unorganized sector enabling them to receive Rs.3,000/- per month as pension after attaining the age of 60 year as the textile industry is predominantly in the unorganized sector.

The Scheme would largely benefit the weavers of handlooms and powerlooms and also the workers of several other small, micro units from other segments of the industry, he said.

He also welcomed the decision of doubling the income tax exemption limit, and enhancing the standard deduction to Rs.50,000, which would benefit several lakhs of middle class employees of the textile industry.

However,the substantial reduction in the budget allocation for Rebate on State Levies (ROSL) and Amended Technology Upgradation Fund benefits would have serious impact on the textile industry, he said.

Meanwhile, President of local chapter of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Lakshminarayanaswamy welcomed the Interim Budget, which he said was focused on two major relief- to farmers and general public tax payers.

The chamber welcomed no tax up to Rs 5 lakhs measure, increase in Gratuity limit from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 30 lakh, Increase in Standard Reduction to Rs 50,000 and mega pension scheme for un-organized workers whose salary is below Rs.15,000, and Simplification of Direct Tax System will benefit tax payers.

The Finance Minister did not concede too much on the fiscal consolidation goals, since fiscal deficit for 2018-2019 seen at 3.4 per cent of GDP, he said in a statement.

However, there is no mention of industrial corridor to Coimbatore as demanded by the Chamber, he said.

In a press release president of Tirupur Exporters’ Association Raja M Shanmugham termed it as a people oriented budget.

While welcoming the announcement of Rs.6,000 per annum to the Small and Marginal farmers and increasing the Income Tax exemption limit from Rs.2.5 Lakh to Rs.5 Lakh to the individuals, monthly pension to unorganized sector workers, he said that the requirements are addressed.

He expressed disappointment over the ROSL allocation of Rs.1,000 crore which was lower since the apparel exports per annum is hovering around 1.10 lakh crore.

He expressed happiness for increase in Interest Equalization scheme allocation from Rs.2,600 Crore to Rs.3,000 Crore, which would meet the recent increase in Interest Equalization for MSMEs from three to five per cent.