15th Fin Commission meets trade, industry bodies of Punjab

The 15th Finance Commission headed by N K Singh Thursday met here the representatives of trade and industry bodies of Punjab, according to an official statement.

The commission observed that a few big players of the service sector were currently operating in Punjab.

Singh is on an official three-day visit to the state.

Majority of the service sector taxpayers are covered under the category of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), according to an official release issued by PIB.

Punjab's gross state value added (GSVA) from secondary and tertiary sector is low in comparison to other select general category states (GCS), indicating a very limited taxing capacity of the state.

Punjab ranks 20th position in the ease of doing business ranking, with a score of 54.36 per cent. On the other hand, the neighbouring Haryana stands at the third position with a score of 98.06 per cent.

The special industrial incentive package given to Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh has affected the industrial development in the state immensely, the release said.

The states with metropolitan and other bigger cities have gained disproportionately on account of goods and services tax, while the states like Punjab, which are primarily agrarian and rural, have heavily lost on this account.

On Wednesday, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had sought from 15th Finance Commission a special debt relief package to revive state's fiscal health and one time package to pay entire debt of distressed farmers.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)