Karnataka Budget - Farmers, industry disappointed

Karnataka Budget - Farmers, industry disappointed

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, March 19, 2016  : There has been mixed reaction to the State Budget presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah here on Mar 18, Friday.  Srikrishnarao Kodancha, president of the Udupi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that it was a “disappointing budget” for the industry. Value added tax had not been reduced. The allocation for industrial development was poor.

The State government should have proposed to develop at least one industrial corridor in every district if not every taluk to give a push to industrial development. The government had banned use of plastic products, but not suggested any alternative.  “What will happen to so many traders in plastic industry. Industrialists, manufacturers pay so much tax. What do we get in return? Nothing,” he said.

B.V. Poojary, president of the district unit of Bharatiya Kissan Sangh, said that though the farmers of other parts of State might benefit from the budget, there was little for the farmers of Udupi district to cheer about. The prices of coconut and paddy had gone down.  The sangh wanted the government to provide the farmers at least the cost of production. There was nothing in the budget to give impetus to the second phase of Varahi Irrigation Project.

“A lot of fields and plantations were subject to attack by wild animals in the district. But there is no solution for that problem either,” he said.

Japti Satyanarayana Udupa, farmer, said that there was no measure in the budget to rejuvenate the ailing Brahmavar Sugar Factory. There was no specific programme announced for rejuvenating agriculture in the district, he said.

Kokkarne Surendranath Shetty, Associate Professor in Political Science, MGM College, said that the imposition of sales tax on petroleum products might increase the rate of petrol and diesel. Many people in Udupi district were hoping that Brahmavar and Byndoor would be declared as taluk headquarters. But there was no such announcement.  It is a mediocre average budget, people felt.