Union Budget evokes mixed reactions in Kerala

CHENNAI: Terming the proposals of the budget, presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam for 2023-24, as excellent, E M Najeeb, president, Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry, said the budget would do a lot of positive things in the coming years.

The Union Budget on Wednesday evoked mixed reactions among various stakeholders in Kerala as travel and tourism industry players welcomed the annual exercise, while small and medium-scale traders felt it ignored the sector.

Terming the proposals of the budget, presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam for 2023-24, as excellent, E M Najeeb, president, Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industry, said the budget would do a lot of positive things in the coming years.

''Overall, the budget is very good, and on behalf of the tourism industry, I'd like to welcome this budget,'' he told PTI. Referring to the mentioning of the tourism sector in the beginning of the budget speech, he said it was for the first time that the sector has been given such importance.

''Tourism has been mentioned in the beginning of the budget itself as one of the pillars for the growth engine for employment generation as well as increase in tourism activities in both domestic and international sectors,'' said Najeeb, also the senior vice-president, Indian Association of Tour Operators.

Sharing similar views, Jose Pradeep, secretary, Kerala Travel Mart Society, said the budget holds immense promise for the growth of the tourism sector. The government has decided to take tourism promotion on a mission mode with active participation of the State and the convergence of government programmes and the public-private partnerships would help tap the potential of the sector, he said.

''Investment of Rs 2.4 lakh crore in the railway sector, along with the development of 50 additional airports throughout the country, will greatly improve connectivity, making it easier for tourists to explore our country,'' he told PTI.

In addition, 50 tourism destinations would be selected through a challenge mode and developed as a comprehensive package for domestic and international tourism, he said adding that this would help promote destinations as worldclass tourist attractions and draw more visitors.

Pradeep said the changes made in the personal income tax would be beneficial to tourism. ''Exemption limit in income tax has been increased from Rs 5 lakh to 7 lakh which will lead to a rise in money flow in the market. This increase is disposable income which will directly benefit tourism,'' he explained.

Adeeb Ahamed, managing director of LuLu Financial Holdings, termed the budget as a balanced one, with equal focus on traditional and emerging sectors, agreeing that, "the way forward is to build a technology and knowledge-based economy.

Turning to financial inclusion, Adeeb, who has significant investments in financial services sector in the form of LuLu Forex and LuLu Finserv – an NBFC providing micro loans, said the move to ramp up the credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs would give a fillip to enabling faster access to financial services.

He added that the decision to expand the scope of services in DigiLocker to include MSMEs and make PAN a common identifier, would give boost user documentation, supporting the onboarding efforts of NBFCs and fintechs driving financial inclusion among such companies.

Adeeb, who also has investments in the travel, luxury hospitality sectors, felt that the proposal to adopt an integrated and innovative approach to develop destinations augurs well. But the Confederation of All India Traders criticised the budget by saying it has ignored the small- and medium-scale traders who are the foundation of the economy.

P Venkitarama Iyer, State president of the Confederation, said it was condemnable that there was no mention of any welfare scheme for over eight crore small- and medium-scale traders and no announcement of any change in the existing GST rules. He flayed the budget for lacking any reference to the amnesty scheme in taxation.