Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal gives memorandum to Sanjeev Arora, Member Rajya Sabha 

Ludhiana, April 30, 2022: A deputation of Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (PPBM) recently met Sanjeev Arora, Member Rajya Sabha and presented him a memorandum under the signatures of state president Piara Lal Seth and general secretary Sunil Mehra. 

The deputation was led by the PPBM state general secretary Sunil Mehra, district chairman Pawan Lehar and district general secretary Ayush Aggarwal. It was comprised among others by Ashwani Mahajan, Parveen Sharma, Vinu Kansal, Aman Tandon and Rohit Lahar.

Various suggestions were given in this memorandum for upliftment of trade and industry in the state. It was mentioned that the state’s trade and industry is in devastated condition due to present circumstances. The issues raised in the memorandum were as under: 

Punjab State Development Tax 2018 (Professional Tax):  Punjab State Development Tax 2018 also known as Professional Tax was applicable from 2018-19 on income tax assesses which is Rs.2400 annually. We would like to bring to your kind notice that the rules of the return filing and laws are very stringent and burdensome on the businessmen of the state because already the businessmen and industrialists are busy filing a lot of returns with GST and Income Tax Department. Another burden of tax on business community, procurement cost to the government and general lack of awareness among the citizens makes it contradictory to the motive of the law enacted by the government i.e., increase in revenue collection. So, we kindly request you to abolish it.

Relief in electricity tariff for commercial: We would like to bring to your kind attention that since 7th July 2021 Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises has included retail and wholesale trade under the umbrella of MSME and all the benefits of MSME are extended to the retail and wholesale trade as well but the electricity tariff rates are being charged more from commercial i.e., Rs.10.14 per unit as compare to Rs.7 per unit from the industry. Other states like Uttar Pradesh is offering commercial tariff at Rs.8.4 per unit and J&k offering commercial tariff at Rs.7.5 per unit in comparison to Punjab. We request your kindself to bring commercial rates at par with industry or other states.
 
Ease of doing business: It is very much evident that condition of Punjab in case of ease of doing business is not as expected and it is a shame where once world bank referred Manchester city of Punjab i.e., Ludhiana as one of the best city to start new businesses in India but due to poor condition of law and order in state and harassing general public in name of procedure , un-announced power cuts,  labour migration, lack of development of own power plants and closure of many like 2 plants of Talwandi Sabo generating approximately 1300 Mw unit, 2 power plants in Ropar generating approx. 600Mw unit of electricity among many private PPAs termination are pulling the state backward in comparison to other states like Andhra Pradesh which is installing approx. 11KMw of plant to facilitate its need, Haryana installing 1200Mw of plants and planning to extend to 8400Mw in future. We request your kindself by keeping this in mind kindly provide certain new facilities so that the 60000 industries that have migrated from Punjab are convinced that Punjab is still the land for the development and prosperity and could return to the state alongwith opening of new industry.

Law and order situation: As evident in daily practice and heard in newspapers about daily looting and worsening situation of law and order in the state have forced many industrialists to migrate from Punjab. Ludhiana being Manchester city of the state and hub of various industries like hosiery, cycle parts, auto parts, no new industrialists is willing to establish new unit in the state due to fear of gangsters and looters. Moreover even on complaining about the incident, innocents are being harassed in name of procedure by the authorities. We request your goodself to kindly put a check on worsening situation of law and order and ensure special patrolling in industrial areas for ensuring safety of the businessmen and industrialists.  

Requirement of single window system:  In order to boost trade and industry in the state, it is requested yourself to introduce a single window system where anyone who needs to establish a new industry shall not be trapped in the jungle of departmentalization and shall be provided a facility of single window for establishing industry like applying for new GST number, applying for the land acquisition for development of the plant, applying for the loan for the business promotion etc. such a step will attract more businesses in the state and help in increasing state revenue and boost confidence among the businessmen and traders. 

Harassment to buyers for non-filing of GST return by the sellers:  It is a general practice that the department approaches the buyers who have genuinely purchased the goods and paid the tax amount, on failure of non-filing of GST return by the seller and reverse the input credit availed by the buyer. In this regarding Madras High Court has even passes a ruling in April 2021 where the revenue department was ordered to start recovery process of GST from the seller on failure of deposit by the seller and not reverse the input credit availed by the buyer. But still the department practices the recovery process from the buyer which is very harassing for the businessmen and industrialists and moreover the working capital of genuine buyer is also blocked due to failure of non-compliance by the seller. It is therefore requested to you to kindly keep a check on the revenue department regarding this process as buyer can only see the return filing proof during GSTR2A.

Trade exhibitions and Food Parks: In order to compete with the world business environment and be at par with other states of the country, we need to acknowledge the need of upgradation in machinery and knowledge and for that we seek the government’s support to open trade fairs and food parks in Ludhiana and Amritsar which are the hub of the industries in the state. With upcoming international airport in Ludhiana and already functioning international airport giving rise to tourism in Amritsar, many new technologies can be shared and brought in the state. There are many sweet promises on the paper by previous governments in ease of doing business and facilitating the business environment like capital subsidy, land provision at controlled rates, small finances at lower rates amongst many, we expect from your goodself to contrive these promises.

Punjab Traders Welfare Board: Punjab Traders Welfare Board must be reconstituted and Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal (Regd.), the oldest business organization working as a bridge between government and the businessmen since 1939, must be given a chance to create conclusive atmosphere for ease of doing business.

Members of the deputation hoped that the concerns of the businessmen and industrialists will be taken into consideration before making any conclusive decision for the betterment and upliftment of the state and  business society as after all any country and province that flourishes, businessmen and industrialists are one of the major key players. 

Sanjeev Arora, Member Rajya Sabha gave a patient hearing to the deputation and assured to look into the points raised in the memorandum.