Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik gave mixed reaction on Union Budget-2020, which was presented in the Parliament today by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
CM has hailed the following initiatives that were presented in Budget-2020:
–Krishi Rail and Krishi Udan for a seamless national cold supply chain.
–PM KUSUM to cover 20 lakh farmers for solar pumps.
–Removal of dividend distribution tax and introduction of the concessional component tax.
–Odisha had requested for extension of Concessional Tax rates to Cooperatives in line with Corporate Tax cuts. We welcome the announcement of Concessional Tax rates for cooperatives.
–Increase of deposit insurance coverage from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.5 lakh.
–Announcement for New Education Policy and FDI in the education sector.
Chief Minister has expressed his dissatisfaction over the following aspects in the Budget:
–Almost all allocations under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes have been stagnant.
–The divisible pool of Central Taxes has shrunk by almost 59,000 cr. This will reduce Odisha’s share by about 3000cr.
–None of the archaeological sites of Odisha have been included in the iconic sites to be developed. Also, Odisha deserves a National Tribal Museum.
–Drinking water is a national priority. Allocation of 11,500 cr nationally against an approved plan of 3.6 lakh crore is too little. In fact Odisha spends about 3600 cr. in Drinking water.
–Sensex is an indicator of investor confidence. The drop of almost 1000 points today shows that there is a huge scope to take a number of measures.
–Investor confidence is important for fresh investments to come in, to spur growth which is the biggest challenge now. This will have a huge impact on job creation and livelihood options for our youth.
Ms Kalinga