JAMMU, Nov 25: With high expectations from the upcoming Budget, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) today submitted a memorandum of demand pertaining to trading community to Atal Duloo, Financial Commissioner (Additional Chief Secretary), Finance Department, J&K, as a part of pre-Budget deliberations.
During the meeting, Chamber of Commerce & Industry Jammu headed by its President Arun Gupta said that as we already aware of the hardships faced by Jammu and Kashmir UT since March 2020 due to the Covid pandemic, especially the business community. We suggest the following immediate steps be taken into consideration before the Announcement of the Final Budget:
Arun Gupta said that the demolition drives in Jammu city in the name of Smart City have been multiplying hardships for the traders of Jammu City in particular and people in general. If government wants to develop Jammu as a Smart City it should create new infrastructure beyond the City limits as the Old City is already highly congested leaving less scope for spacious upgradation of the City. It’s a request to your good self to initiate requisite measures to create a new Jammu City under Smart City project so that the people of Old Jammu city do not suffer due to execution of the project under which the JMC claims to demarcate with yellow lines even areas of shutters of shopkeepers besides causing unnecessary hardships and loss to traders in the garb of Smart City Project. It is request to the government to emulate the new Raipur Project that provided for the creation of new city without disturbing the already existing city in Chattisgarh
During the meeting, Jammu Chamber suggested various measures including policy for rehabilitation, creation of Commercial / Residential Sites; examine and find some modality to review the Excise Policy to accommodate the old licensees; execution of lease deeds; ownership rights for Industry/ Warehouse; revival of The Citizens Cooperative Bank Ltd. Jammu; VAT Amnesty Scheme; Power Amnesty Scheme; no negative list for Industrial Sector, give last one chance to the Industrial Units for filling of GST returns who could not file the same during the lockdown period of Covid-19, preference to Locals in New Industrial Policy, GST Reimbursement, enhancing limit of e-way Bill, give benefit of power bills to Hotel Tourism at par with Industries; incentives to old units, give one chance to the industrial units to claim SGST incentives who had not applied it, special incentives to Transport Sector, implementation of Polythene Bags order in real sense, etc.
Arun Gupta said that the tourism industry is considered to be the backbone of J&K UT economy. But since the outbreak of Covid-19, this industry has been badly hit. The tourism industry has suffered a loss of about crores of rupees during this period. The traders of Jammu region have been facing severe hardships. However, the tourism businessmen have pinned their hopes high on the government for the special announcements in regard to the Tourist circuit development, he added.
