Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said that the measures taken recently by the Central Government to boost the economy will greatly benefit Uttarakhand. Addressing the media here on Wednesday, he said that the efforts undertaken to boost investment and strengthen industries in Uttarakhand will receive a boost with these decisions.
Rawat said, “Various new policies were drafted and necessary amendments were made in other policies to encourage investment in the State. Since the investors summit last year till now, Rs 17,000 crore worth of investments have reaching grounding (execution) level. The announcements made by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for improving the economy fill give a further fillip to our efforts. The industrial sector in Uttarakhand will receive the direct benefit of these announcements.”
The CM said that Uttarakhand is a tourism state where a new tourism policy was introduced to boost tourism. The amendment in Goods and Services Tax rates will boost tourism and service based industry here. He said, “Earlier, 18 per cent tax was levied on hotel rooms costing Rs 2,500 to Rs 7,500 per day which has now been reduced to 12 per cent. Similarly, the 28 per cent GST on hotel rooms costing more than Rs 7,500 has been reduced to 18 per cent. The five per cent GST levied earlier on hotel rooms costing less than Rs 1,000 has been removed. The hoteliers in the state believe that these decisions will bring about a 15 to 20 per cent growth in the hotel business in Uttarakhand. This will strengthen the state’s hospitality sector and the hotel sector will also profit from increased number of tourists which in turn will strengthen the state’s economy and create new opportunities for employment. In addition to this, rebate will be provided according to the time of storage on food items which can be stored. This will facilitate rebate to the food procession industry in the state.
Products of the state will get proper storage facility and the local farmers will benefit if the consumption of the products will increase.
The GST on electric vehicles has been reduced from 12 per cent to five per cent. The State government has implemented electric vehicle policy under which the use of electric vehicles will increase, generate employment for the people and pollution control will become more effective with the use of electric vehicles. The relief provided by the Central Government will give a major boost to the automobile, pharmaceutical and manufacturing sectors in Uttarakhand,” he said.
Referring to the other measures taken by the Central Government to provide an impetus to the economy, he said that corporate tax rates had been slashed. “ If a domestic company is taken benefit of some incentive it will have to pay 22 per cent tax instead of 30 per cent tax. Companies investing in the manufacturing sector after October 1, 2019 will have to pay only 15 per cent tax.
This means that more opportunities for investment in manufacturing sector and employment will be generated.
The cuts in corporate tax will boost many companies, reduce their losses and consequently increase production,” said Rawat.
