VIJAYAWADA: A delegation of the AP Chambers, led by its president Potluri Bhaskara Rao, met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Vijayawada on Friday and presented a detailed pre-budget representation covering sector-wise recommendations and taxation-related matters.
The delegation submitted proposals focused on strengthening the economic ecosystem of Andhra Pradesh and India.
Key suggestions included measures to boost MSME competitiveness and access to finance — expansion of CGTMSE coverage, relaxation of collateral norms, and interest support for export-oriented MSMEs and manufacturing clusters; investment support for tourism, hospitality and food processing through investment-linked tax benefits, accelerated depreciation for capital-intensive infrastructure, and facilitation of industrial tourism and value-added processing; incentives for technology upgradation such as digital automation, AI and robotics, energy-efficient equipment, and product-testing infrastructure to enhance productivity and global competitiveness.
And also the development of the logistics and export ecosystem by encouraging cold-chain, warehousing and multimodal logistics hubs in Tier-II/III cities to reduce freight costs and improve export readiness.
