Coimbatore, Feb 14 : Trade and industry in the region Friday welcomed the Tamil Nadu Budget for 2020-21.

On behalf of members of local chapter of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, its president, V Lakshminarayanasamy thanked chief minister and deputy chief minister, K Palaniswami and O Paneerselvam respectively
for presenting the Budget without any new tax.

Chamber welcomed the allocation of Rs.500 crore for Athikadavu-Avinashi irrigation scheme for which Environmental Clearance has been obtained Rs.11,894.48 crore for Agriculture Department, which will boost the Agricultural
activities and support the farmers and also lauded the proposal for establishment of Agro Processing Clusters in eight Districts under Prime Minister Kisan Programme during 2020-2021, he said.

The announcement for reduction in Stamp Duty for rental agreements under the new Tenancy Act from 1% to 0.25% and Registration charges on such agreements from 1 per cent to 0.25 per cent subject to a maximum of Rs.5,000 and
allocation of Rs.200 crore for Labour Welfare and allocation of Rs.2,500 crore for industry
development, were welcome steps, he said.

However, the long felt need of Coimbatore is the implementation of Metro Rail Project for which no funds has been allotted, Lakshminarayanasamy said.In a statement Tirupur Exporters Association president, Raja M Shanmugham
welcomed the Government decision for providing, Rs.1,224.25 crore for the Handlooms and Textiles.

Expanding the benefits available under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme and the Unemployed Youth Employment Generation Programme, enhancement of the existing project size limit of Rs.10 lakh to Rs.15 lakh and enhancement of the eligible subsidy under the scheme from Rs.1.25 lakh to Rs.2.5 lakh will encourage thousands of budding entrepreneurs, he said.

The provision for this scheme has been enhanced to Rs.33 crore in the Budget Estimates 2020-21, he noted.