Confederation of Indian Industry for job and development oriented Assam budget 2014-15

Looking forward to an employment and development oriented Assam budget 2014-15, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has submitted for consideration a pre-budget memorandum to the state government.

In view of the contours of the budget, the memorandum brought to focus issues on taxation, policy and administrative issues and also on issues mandating special budgetary provisions, CII North East Council Co-Chairman Abhijit Barooah said in a press release on Monday. The CII also recommended that the state should focus on raising revenue without widening the tax net and simplifying the tax procedures.

There is also an urgent need at compressing expenditures without sacrificing the growth momentum by reducing transaction costs, promote private investment in infrastructure and unlock supply potential of the agriculture sector for market linkages, said Barooah who is the Managing Director of Premier Cryogenics Ltd in Guwahati.

Highlighting on issues of the industrial sector, he said the memorandum suggested substantially increasing the budgetary allocation to the Industries Department as it impedes in planning various measures to boost industrialisation. CII Assam State Council Chairman Barun Barpujari added, "we feel that the industrial sector, if given due impetus, can play a major role in employment generation". 

The memorandum also spoke about creation of an 'Employable Skill Development Program' that should be launched for the youth of Assam to address unemployment and meet the ever growing requirement for technicians in the Infrastructure, Industrial and Service sector.