Several industrialists on Monday appreciated the intentions of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to improve the economy, but expressed their anguish over his failure to addressing their concerns despite getting a massive mandate in the general elections.
At an interactive session on the Union Budget and its implications organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, in association with Pricewaterhouse Coopers, they expressed concerns over the failure to concede their demand to scrap Minimum Alternate Tax, ending ambiguity over deemed exports criterion, and rationalisation of taxes.
“There is not much to boost exports from the pharma sector as well as the Special Economic Zones,” Managing Director of Eisai Pharmaceutical India Pvt. Ltd Sanjit Singh Lamba said.
In a hard-hitting speech, Symbiosys Technologies CEO O. Naresh Kumar said, “The intentions of the FM are good, but it is disappointing. Nothing has happened for the IT industry. The issue of MAT and current account deficit due to foreign exchange problem have remained unaddressed.”
No announcement was made on tax holiday for 10 years and special category State status for Andhra Pradesh, he pointed out.
Some of the speakers said one should understand the compulsions of the new government as it was just one-and-a- half-month-old and hoped that structural changes would be initiated in future.
“There are no sweeping changes apparently due to financial compulsion, but thrust has been laid to accelerate growth in power, road connectivity, logistics, port, manufacture, and infrastructure sectors,” said CII zonal vice-chairman Neeraj Sarda.
Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax D.P. Sharma touched upon highlights of the budget and efforts to reduce fiscal deficit and ensure fiscal prudence. He said tax benefit could be maximised with investments in housing and long-term pension plans.
Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Customs and Service Tax Deepa B. Dasgupta explained the need to widen the tax base and called for strict tax compliance.
CII Vizag zone chairman and Visakhapatnam Port Deputy Chairman G.V.L. Satya Kumar presided.
Pricewaterhouse Coopers Associate Director, Direct Tax, Saloni S. Khandelwal, and Director S. Ananthanarayanan respectively made presentations on direct and indirect taxes.
