Appointment of Raminder Singh Gujral as the revenue secretary has come at a time when the government is experiencing a phase of cash crunch. Gujral, who succeeds Sunil Mitra, assumes office from July 1.
A 1976-batch IAS from the Haryana cadre, Gujral will have the responsibility of meeting the revenue collection target, which, according to Mitra, looks difficult this year. In the current financial year, the target for indirect tax collections has been fixed at Rs 3.92 lakh crore and for direct taxes at Rs 5.32 lakh crore.
The recent waiver of Customs duty on crude oil and reduction in Excise duty on petrol and diesel, along with higher tax refunds, will make the target of achieving a growth of 24.9 per cent in tax collections tougher. Moderation in growth due to monetary tightening by the central bank could also stifle the revenue for the exchequer.
Gujral will also be involved in the rollout of Goods and Services Tax and Direct Taxes Code. Though slated to be rolled out from next year, implementation of GST from April 1, 2012, looks difficult.
At present, Gujral has been serving as secretary in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Before this, he has also served as the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
As DGFT, he was instrumental in boosting India’s exports to $155 billion, under the then commerce minister, Kamal Nath. He interacted with the exporters regularly while addressing their needs when the Indian currency had appreciated substantially in 2007-08. He proved his mettle during the global financial downturn of 2008, when exports went into the red after many years, by suitably strategising the stimulus measures for exporters.
With his calmness and composure, Gujral stood firm with India’s demands during the global trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO). The post of DGFT remained vacant for a long time after he left the office to be the road transport and highways secretary.
He has also held the additional charge of the chairman of the National Highways Authority of India.
