Kochi, Feb 1 (PTI) Industrialists and bankers in Kerala on Wednesday hailed as "pro-growth" the announcement made in the Union budget and said it would help the country emerge as a stronger economy.

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The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), the oldest Chamber of Commerce in the State, opined that the continued focus on infrastructure development, support for MSMEs and tax concessions for co-operative sector, among others, would make the economy stronger.

"The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) welcomes the various proposals and announcements made by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget presented in Parliament today... Overall, the budget is expected to help India emerge as a stronger economy," CCI said in a release.

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The Chamber, however, raised concern over the tax deduction concerned with the MSMEs and called for a better management of cash flow resources.

Bankers said key proposals in the "pro-growth" budget would prop up the overall economic growth in the country significantly.

They expressed hope that the infrastructure-led push in capital expenditure in the budget along with increasing the income tax exemption to Rs seven lakh per annum under the new tax regime would spur demand and employment simultaneously.

Venkatraman Venkateswaran, chief financial officer (CFO) of Federal Bank Ltd, said the infrastructure spending-oriented budget unveiled tax cuts and set the virtuous cycle of job creation.

"On agricultural credit, the target is hiked to Rs 20 lakh crore, which will help drive rural growth. Additionally, the revamped credit guarantee scheme for MSMEs with infusion of Rs 9,000 crore into the corpus will enable additional collateral free credit guarantee of Rs two lakh crore," Venkateswaran said. Murali Ramakrishnan, managing director and chief executive officer of the South Indian Bank, said the opening of new PM Jan Dhan accounts this year would benefit the common man. "Effective implementation of schemes like opening of 47.8 crore PM Jan Dhan bank accounts will benefit citizens. With the establishment of the Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (UIDF), we expect infrastructure in tier-2 and tier-3 cities to receive a significant boost," Ramakrishnan said.

K Paul Thomas, managing director and chief executive officer of ESAF Small Finance Bank, said as expected, the budget aims at growth accommodating all sections of society. "Emphasis on agriculture credit by increasing the credit target and the launch of the Agriculture Acceleration Fund are encouraging signs for agri-tech companies and agri start-ups. A sum of Rs 6,000 crore allocated for Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana is a welcome sign for the fishermen community," Thomas said.

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