Goa industry captains seek retail, tax reforms to revive tourism

Goa business and industry captains have urged Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to boost the retail operations in the state in order to revive the ailing tourism economy and have asked to emulate the Maharashtra government 's recent decision to keep retail businesses open 24x7.

In a pre-budget memorandum submitted to Chief Minister ahead of the forthcoming budget session, chairman of the Goa chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Lalit Saraswat, also called for a tax and other financial incentives to big ticket investment projects in order to provide level playing field for local manufacturers.

"Progressive states in India have already implemented the same, latest being the state of Maharashtra. This will help in 24x7 operations of retail business and also help revive and strengthen the sagging tourism business," the CII pre-budget memorandum states, requesting Sawant to take a leaf from the recent Maharashtra government's decision to open up retail businesses, especially malls, shops, eateries and multiplexes open for 24 hours.

The memorandum also calls for a creation of a special purpose vehicle or a task force to prepare a white paper to develop a retail policy for the state.

Calling for more incentivisation of big investment projects, the memorandum states: "Mega projects (investment more than Rs 100 crore) set up in Goa after Jan 2020 should be given financial incentives like refund of GST on local sales etc, in line with other states to provide level playing field for local manufacturers".

The forthcoming budget session of the Goa legislative assembly begins on February 3.

( With inputs from IANS )