Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation (AP Chambers), in a representation to Dr Arvind Panagariya, chairman of 16th Finance Commission, requested him to support industry development and economic progress of the State.
AP Chambers president Potluri Bhaskara Rao underlined the importance of increasing the proportion of Central tax revenues in tax devolution to 50 percent to states like Andhra Pradesh, which are industrially backward and economically weak. He suggested the Union government extend tax exemptions like CGST and give additional grants for infrastructure development to the seven backward districts of Andhra Pradesh as mentioned in the AP Reorganisation Act.
The Finance Commission was urged to earmark a certain percentage of the additional tax devolution towards industrial infrastructure development in the State and to liberally grant funds to set up MSME Parks in all assembly constituencies as envisioned by the State government. He mentioned Andhra Pradesh is majorly an agro-based State and yet there are no central research institutes such as CFTRI, NIFTEM to support the industries in providing new technologies for locally available commodities. He requested the Finance Commission to allocate funds for the establishment of such institutions and campuses in the State.
The State is a major producer of mango, banana, and palm oil and there has been a demand to set up mango, banana and palm boards in the State for many years. He requested funding from Finance Commission to set up these boards. Andhra Pradesh has huge potential to emerge as the Gateway to South East Asia by providing excellent connectivity to South East Asian countries through ports. He suggested the Finance Commission allocate funds for the development of ports, industrial corridors, logistics hubs, and integrated connectivity between road, railways, and ports to help the State become the Gateway to SouthEast Asia.
Similar to the MNREGA Scheme, the Finance Commission may consider one more such scheme to make available unskilled and semi-skilled labour to Micro and Small industries operating in rural areas to drive the rural economy. The Finance Commission may extend the Product Linked Incentive Scheme to Small and Medium industries in the targeted and priority sectors and recommend earmarking a certain percentage of the additional tax devolution towards PLI Scheme to Small and Medium industries.
