CII Northern Region appreciated the Union Budget presented by Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister on February 1.

Nikhil Sawhney, Chairman, CII Northern Region said that the budget focuses on lives & livelihood in the backdrop of the economy ravaged by the COVID -19 Pandemic.

He said, “We appreciate the fine balancing done to soothe the economy as well as boost it by way of increased capital expenditure, focus on creating physical infrastructure, healthcare spending.”

“CII Northern Region is happy to note that the Budget ticked all the right boxes of lives, livelihood, and growth which would propel the economy to an inclusive growth trajectory. We expect the reform process to continue beyond the budget announcements. We welcome the Rs 1,18,452 cr grant to meet the Revenue Deficit to 17 states during the year 2021-22, as this will help the states in meeting their development and capital expenditure plan which suffered due to lower GST collections”, he added.

Speaking on the budget announcements for the Northern states, he said that the northern states are the hub of MSMEs. Another Budget proposal to establish 7 textile parks will help many textile hubs in North India such as Ludhiana, Bhilwara, Gurgaon, Panipat in their technological upgradation and export competitiveness.

The Northern Region of the country is landlocked, stresses on the expansion of physical infrastructure will go long way in connecting the North with the rest of the world. CII welcomes the deadline to complete the Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors by June 2022. These Corridors will link Northern Region states with ports in Western & Eastern India.

Announcement of bringing 1,000 more mandis under the e-NAM umbrella and enhancing agricultural credit target to Rs 16.5 lakh crore in FY22 will greatly benefit the agrarian states of Punjab, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan, etc. The announcement for setting up of Central University in Leh (Ladakh) will greatly help in meeting the aspirations of the youth of newly carved UT, said Chairman, CII Northern Region.

Nawang Thinless, Chairman, CII Ladakh said that it is a growth-oriented budget that came during such a challenging time when the country is going through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Stanzin Chosphel, Vice Chairman, CII Ladakh said that in this budget Finance Minister has given a push to the infrastructure which will definitely boost the economy of the country.