CNBC-TV18, India’s No 1 business medium, and IRB, a leading infrastructure company, presented the demands from India Inc. at a star studded panel discussion in Mumbai today. With Indian economy into recovery phase, India Inc. is pinning its hopes on a whole gamut of reforms to be unleashed by the UPA government. The expectations have risen to new heights after the overwhelming mandate that the government has received in the elections. ‘What India Wants’ elucidated the demands such as tax reforms, labor reforms and financial sector reforms that the industry leaders, policy makers and stakeholders have from the Union Budget 2009-2010, a budget that could shape India’s Future.
The panel for this exclusive forum included eminent personalities such as Yashwant Sinha, Former Finance Minister and Senior BJP Leader, Adi Godrej, Chairman & MD – Godrej, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Trader & Investor, Ashok Wadhwa, MD & CEO - Ambit Holdings Pvt. Ltd., Akash Prakash, Fund Manager and CEO - Amansa Capital Pte. Ltd., and HP Ranina, Corporate Tax Lawyer.
Below are the excerpts from the event:
Yashwant Sinha
- I don’t think the conditions of the government will permit the things to be postponed for 7-8 months
- I think the FM is aggressive as the economy demands it
- The condition of the fiscal deficit can not be solved in a year. It will take the entire term. I believe address the situation on a primary basis.
- I expect him to talk about the fiscal deficit that’s very large and his plan. I also look forward to a spate of reforms. I expect the Fin Minister to roll out sectoral reforms.
- I look forward to him balancing the budget
- Our experience with things like tax amnesty is that it reduces the collection of taxes
- He could roll back deeper cuts in indirect taxes and give concessions on direct taxes.
- He can do away with the surcharges and reduce the burden on the salaried people
- Privatization will be difficult without consensus. These reforms have to be backed by national consensus rather than the FM just announcing them.
- In our tenure we had moved from disinvestment to privatization. We committed to strategic sale by retaining 26% of the stake and selling the rest. Raising 25,000 to 50,000 through the sale is not possible. We may raise up to 15,000 Cr.
- There is no difference between 26% and 49% FDI. We were keen to have 49% FDI limit during our tenure but the Congress which had the majority in Rajya Sabha at that time insisted that it should not exceed 26%. I will have no problem in increasing the FDI limit.
- I believe that all the transaction taxes should go. I suggest taxing the profit from the transaction rather than taxing the transaction.
- Finally, I will advice the FM to be brave and do what he should do, which is not raising the revenue but cutting back the expenditure.
Adi Godrej
- The more of the directives from the economic survey the FM implements the better it will be.
- The bets way to reduce deficit is to get the growth up but as Mr. Sinha said it will take time, but I hope that the budget is Growth Oriented.
- I think he ( FM) should raise the limits of income tax, he needs to promote affordable houses which would lead to affordable houses which in turn would lead to demand for steel and cement leading to greater revenue and higher revenue growth.
- I do not believe that the Government should introduce investment allowance as it creates a bias towards Capital Investment.
- List of reforms that I look forward from the budget are:
o Execute infrastructure projects
o De- regulate petroleum prices
o Increase FDI cap to 49% - I am sure that not everything we hope will be covered.
Speaking about the forum, Mr. Neel Chowdhury, Vice President, Marketing CNBC-TV18 and CNBC AWAAZ said, “The Union budget is the most crucial event for the common man and the corporates alike. This year, with the UPA coming to power with a massive public mandate, corporate India’s expectations have soared even higher. It is with this aim that CNBC-TV18 presented, ‘What India Wants’, an exclusive forum to highlight the demands that industry leaders, policy makers and stakeholders have from Union Budget 2009.”
About CNBC-TV18:
CNBC-TV 18 is India's No.1 business medium and the undisputed leader in business news. CNBC TV-18 has been an integral part of the Indian economic story, spearheading and mirroring these enterprising times. The channel's benchmark coverage extends from corporate news, financial markets coverage, expert perspective on investing and management to industry verticals and beyond. CNBC-TV18 has been constantly innovating with new genres of programming that helps make business more relevant to different constituencies across India. India’s most able business audience consumes CNBC TV-18 for their information & investing needs. This audience is highly diversified at one level comprising of key groups such as business leaders, professionals, retail investors, brokers and traders, intermediaries, self employed professionals, High Net Worth individuals, students and even homemakers but shares a distinct commonality in terms of their spirit of enterprise.CNBC-TV18 is currently available in over 30 million households in India.
