FM kicks off pre-budget meetings

Agriculture sector demands scrapping of ECA

ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 7: Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha kicked off the pre-budget meetings on Monday by meeting the agriculturists and the representatives of the small scale industry (SSI). Sinha would meet the industrialists and the chamber representatives to take their recommendations on the Budget on Tuesday.

In a four hour long meeting with the finance minister, the agriculturists demanded immediate scrapping of Essential Commodities Act (ECA) for free movement of foodgrains and introduction of futures trading in agri-products. These move would enable the sector to achieve 7 per cent growth.

“There is no need for the highly restrictive ECA to continue in view of surplus achieved in foodgrain production and burgeoning stocks in godowns. Gone are the days of food shortage,” chairman of International Society for Agricultural Marketing, Shankerlal Guru, told reporters. At the meeting, the finance minister stressed the need for a consensus among States on some of the issues for undertaking reforms in agriculture and said benefits of green revolution need to spread to more areas, particularly the Northeast.

In another meeting, the small scale industry (SSI) associations put forward a demand for a slew of concessions in the budget, including enhancement of exemption limit for excise duty to Rs 2 crore, raising basic exemption limit for income tax to Rs 75,000 and 100 per cent exemption for exports from income tax for all SSI units. They also suggested that the government should frame a policy which would allow reasonable differential between customs duty on raw materials and components.