Budget 2013 dashes all hopes of MSMEs: KASSIA

BANGALORE: The Union Budget 2013-14 has totally side-stepped all the pressing concerns of the MSME sector except for making available the subsidised finance to SMEs, said Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association.

The budget has virtually ignored the expectations of small entrepreneurs, KASSIA said. "In the current scenario where the industries sentiment is at a near all time low, especially in the manufacturing sector, the Budget should have responded to the pressing concerns of the SMEs", it said.

Despite admitting that the current industrial scenario is far from desirable, the Finance Minister P Chidambaram has announced not a single concession to spur industry growth, KASSIA said.

KASSIA President A Vijayendranath criticised Chidambaram for "resting his hopes on a trickled-down effect rather than taking strong pro-active measures to rescue the small industry from further stagnating growth".