Punjab MSMEs urge CM for immediate release of VAT refunds

New Delhi, June 13 (KNN) Voicing concerns of Punjab industrialists especally the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organization (FICO) has requested chief minister and finance minister for quick release of VAT refunds stating that the industry is battling hard to survive.

Speaking on the issue, Gurmeet Singh Kullar, President, FICO said, “Industry here is going through a crucial phase. After the implementation of GST, the industry is struggling to survive.”

VAT refunds worth several hundreds of crores are pending in entire Punjab and majority of the cases belong to the industrialists of Ludhiana, he added.

He was speaking at the meeting of FICO that was organized on Monday to discuss this matter.

Highlighting the situation that has impacted MSMEs badly in the state, he said that “department and government should understand that this is not our profit or income. This is in fact our capital and we are even paying interest to banks upon this money, which is now stuck with the state taxation department.”

Adding to this, he requestd the chief minister and finance minister to look into the matter as this has become a serious issue with backlog of even 2016 still not cleared. If nothing is done at the earliest, the situation will worsen and our industry will be pushed towards further crisis.

Further, in addition to processing our pending VAT refunds, government should also initiate steps to bring diesel under GST regime as it is a crucial raw material for the industry, and if its prices are not reduced, our cost of production will keep rising, said Balbir Singh Mankoo, finance secretary of FICO.