Kochi: The Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has welcomed the Kerala budget for the financial year 2017-2018 as no new taxes have been imposed on the business and trade community. In a statement issued, Raja Sethunath, chairman, KCCI, said it was a great relief for the business and trade communities, which is facing severe crisis following demonetization. However, he said there were no proposals favourable to the trade community. The president of the Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Mr. V. Ramalingam said that the Kerala Budget is more or less a replica of the Union Budget, put in a different bottle, and was not exciting.
“The State FM played safe by highlighting some of the major proposals from the Union Budget 2017 such as internet availability, building homes for the poor, health data bank and amnesty schemes,” he added. The Cochin Chamber of Commerce & Industry welcomed the government’s commitment to improve the infrastructure in the state by allocating Rs 25,000 crore for the same this year. The allocation of Rs 1,375 crore to develop the IT and Tourism Sector of the state is a very welcome move, it said.
