Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, on Monday, reassured India Inc that the contentious provisions in the new Companies Act would be addressed once Rajya Sabha passed the amendment bill pending before it. Those provisions that could be amended through notifications had already been taken care of, he said.
As for 15 other important sections that need Parliament’s approval for amendment, the government had moved a Bill, he said.
The Lok Sabha had already passed the Bill, which was now pending in Rajya Sabha, Mr. Jaitley said, answering a question from Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Motor Company, during an interactive session with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) members.
The Finance Minister pointed out that industry groups had not raised objections when the Companies Bill was discussed in Parliament during the UPA government.
“Some industry members actually requested me to help in quick passage of the Bill when I was the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha during the UPA government,” Mr. Jaitley said.
The interaction was well attended by the cream of industry whichincluded R. Seshasayee, CII past president; Prathap C Reddy, Chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group; K.M. Mammen, MRF Chairman and Managing Director; Mallika Srinivasan, TAFE Chairman and CEO; B. Santhanam, President-Flat Glass, South Asia, Egypt, Malaysia and Managing Director, Saint-Gobain India; Manikam Ramaswami, Chairman and Managing Director of Loyal Textile Mills; and Sano Tosihiko, CEO and Managing Director of Renault Nissan, amongst others.
Initiating the discussion, Mr. Seshasayee asked the Finance Minister whether the public investment would lead the investment cycle in the coming years or the country had to depend on private investment.
“Ideally, we should depend on both. But for now, despite the fiscal and revenue constraint, we will take special steps for public investment. Even with the present constraint of fiscal deficit in revenue, it’s a challenging and a difficult opportunity for us. But I think we have to take some special steps as far as public investment is concerned,” Mr. Jaitley said.
Mr. Ramaswami said that Indian textile industry with a market share of 3.5 per cent of global trade occupied second slot. China with 35 per cent was becoming less competitive and some other countries were becoming competitive due to favourable trade agreement and raw material price. In this context, he wondered if the Centre could look at removing the anti-dumping duty.
N. Srinivasan, Managing Director of India Cements, stressed the need for giving a boost to road development and housing sector. Mr. Jaitley said that the present government would revive both the sectors.
“Last time, we made it mandatory for laying roads and the housing boom that followed the moderate interest regime created demand for cement. This time the government is trying to revive housing and road sector. The government wants to start with public funding of highways till the investment comes in from the private sector. This, along with the new policy of affordable housing and housing for poor schemes and lowering of interest rates, will give it a kick-start. But it will take some time,” he added.
