The business community in Rourkela is disappointed with the general budget.
Chartered accountant S K Senapati said it has discouraged the genuine taxpayers. He was critical of the amnesty scheme in service tax which gave relief to defaulters who collected service tax from 2007, but avoided paying to the Central exchequer. He pointed out that the budget was silent on containing spiralling inflation and also denied social security to families with no benefits on life insurance premium. He, however, welcomed the additional Rs 1 lakh interest benefit on housing loan of Rs 25 lakh. For senior vice-chairman of Odisha Sponge Iron Manufactures’ Association, Subrata Patnaik, the budget was ‘dull’ and ‘disappointing’. Patnaik claimed the budget neither cared about the industry sector nor the common man.
The Rourkela Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) had organised a group viewing where representatives of trade, commerce, industry and tax practitioners participated. In a statement, it said the budget did not meet expectations. No major relief on income tax and direct taxes was provided for the benefit of the ailing industries.