Andhra Pradesh Chambers delegation submits pre-Budget representation to Nirmala Sitharaman

A delegation of the Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce & Industry (A.P. Chambers) comprising its president Potluri Bhaskar Rao, executive vice-president B. Raja Sekhar, past president Muthavarapu Murali Krishna and A.P. Chambers State Tourism Committee chairman R.V. Swamy submitted a pre-Budget representation to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Vijayawada on Friday (November 28, 2025). 

Their proposals were focussed on strengthening the economic ecosystem of Andhra Pradesh (A.P.), of which the key suggestions were to expand the coverage of Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme, relax the collateral norms thereof and to extend interest support to export-oriented MSME and manufacturing clusters, and to provide investment-linked tax benefits to the tourism, hospitality and food processing sectors, accelerate depreciation for capital-intensive infrastructure, and facilitate industrial tourism and value-added processing. 

The other proposals made by A.P. Chambers were to give incentives for digital automation, AI/robotics, energy-efficient equipment, and creation of product testing infrastructure to boost productivity and global competitiveness, encourage cold chain development, warehousing, and the development of multimodal logistics hubs in Tier-II/III cities to reduce freight costs. 

The A.P. Chambers delegation also raised important GST-related issues including simplification and standardisation of GST investigations especially under Section 67 aimed at preventing the harassment of honest taxpayers and ensuring uniform adherence to the guidelines laid down by Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. They sought faster GST refunds and curbing of duplicate investigations across jurisdictions.