The Budget has evinced mixed reaction from the industry bodies as well as individuals across Gujarat. Gujarat Sales Tax Bar Association president Mehul Gandhi said that traders were of the opinion that the government had forgotten about problems concerning Value Added Tax (VAT). He said none of the pleas by the Association regarding registration,assessment or returns was considered. Gujarat has higher VAT rate than other states and this has changed the general attitude of the people towards doing business here,he said. According to him,22 industries had migrated to other states because of high VAT rates. He added that despite a rise of Rs 1,400 crore in income from VAT,the government did not consider doing away with or reducing additional tax. Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry has also not found the budget as per its expectations. GCCI president Rupesh Shah said there was a need for (announcing) special package for industries but there was no such provision. He said the only consolation was that the government did not increase tax rates. RAJKOT: Hitesh Bagdai,president of the Rajkot Chamber of Commerce and Industries said: The Budget didnt meet our expectations. There is a big disappointment in terms of no stimulus package. Most industries like automobiles or machine tools have been affected in the global meltdown. At least some relief like electricity rate cuts or cuts in other taxes should have been made. The Chamber has,however,said that on a positive note,there has been no new taxes. Dhansukh Vora,president of the Greater Chamber of Commerce and Industry said: Its disappointing to see no changes in VAT slabs and procedures. The industry wanted the slabs to go down and procedures to get simplified. But both demands have been overlooked. VADODARA: The levy of entertainment tax of Rs 200 on each Direct to Home (DTH) connection per year has not gone down well with the taxpayers. Keshav Patel,a teacher,said: The government keeps on increasing the tax burden on citizens. It doles out exemptions to industry,but increases the burden on the taxpayers. This (DTH tax) is yet another way to fill the state coffers. The new tax will give the government approximately Rs 6 crore in revenues. Yatin Pandya,a resident of Gotri area,who just got the DTH connection,said: The government should levy tax on cable operators. They are the ones who make money. Tax on DTH will be passed on to the consumers. This will be an additional burden. Experts have also reacted on the state of higher education in the state. MSU Senate member II Pandya,also president of the Baroda University Teachers Association (BUTA),reacted sharply to the provisions made in the Budget about increasing the seats in engineering colleges and the opening of 20 new ITIs in Gujarat. He said: If we cannot increase the quality of education,increasing the number of seats is not the solution. We are instead paralysing the education system if we have students with 35 per cent marks becoming engineers. If IIT has increased the number of centres,the quality does not suffer. They always vouch to have the cream in their institutes. He added: But this is not the case here. With the adulteration of the quality of students,we are creating a hollow pillar for the country,as the engineers coming out of these institutes are not competent enough. It is a money minting endeavour by the government. The new veterinary university has,however,given a favourable reaction to the Budget. It is a good step. The benefit of Veterinary University is that all the dairy technology colleges in Gujarat will be connected to it. Gujarat has the best breed of cattle and the Veterinary University will provide leverage for churning out more expertise in this field, said N T Mehta,president of the Gujarat Veterinary Council. He added: Not just for the animal husbandry,the bulk chillers will also be of good news for the other sectors right from the dairy sector to the food product industry.
