In Chennai, Finance Minister talks to 50 business leaders

Various issues concerning different sectors were taken up in the meeting with the Minister. N Srinivasan, VC-MD, India Cements Ltd, pointed out that after China, India is the largest manufacturer of Cements and that nearly half of the country’s cement is produced in the southern region, a FICCI release said.

Hence there is a need to take it to other parts of the country due to the huge amount of infrastructural projects that will be happening in the years to come.

“He also highlighted about the unprecedented rise in the cost of coal that is imported,” it added.

Further, Irshad Mecca, Convenor, FICCI Tamil Nadu EXIM Panel and MD, Farida Group mentioned that since the leather industry has many MSME players, there is a need to extend the interest rate subvention scheme beyond September 30, 2021, it added.

Other demands included the extension of ECLGS scheme, bring a Naphtha Cracker to the south, special rebates to encourage customers towards home buying to help the industry and the economy, it said.

Sitharaman “responded to all the representations and promised action wherever feasible and appreciated FICCI for organising the initiative,” it said.

“She mentioned about the increase in allocation to infrastructure and specifically for the health infrastructure to successfully tide over the (COVID) pandemic crisis and also briefly mentioned about the special announcements made by the Government for the travel and tourism industry. She also appreciated the industry for offering constructive advice on critical developmental issues. More than 50 industry leaders representing various sectors from Tamil Nadu participated in the session,” the release added.