Slowdown palpable in reform process, says new PHD Chamber president :

He however said the country is not experiencing 'policy paralysis' as of now

Amidst repeated delays over the passing of the constitution amendment Bill on Goods and Services Tax (GST) in parliament, the process of initiating policy reforms has slowed down in the last few months, the President of industry body PHD Chamber Mahesh Gupta said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference after taking charge, Gupta said: "I think in the last two sessions of Parliament, since the Bills have not been passed, there is a slowdown in the reform process. There is no two opinion about this".

Saying this will have a "long term" impact on the economy, he added the Government needs to rethink its economic agenda and provide push to various sectors to boost the infrastructure sector.

However, Gupta said the country is not experiencing "policy paralysis" as of now.

"We don't have a policy paralysis right now. We have a strong Prime Minister taking decisions but legislative measures are not coming forward.", he said.

However, he stressed it was important to boost consumer driven demand along the model of the United States which he said, had recuperated from the financial crisis by vigorously pushing through consumer demand.

A step in that direction, he suggested, was to increase the income tax deduction for interest paid on home loan for a self-occupied house to Rs 5 lakh from the current level of Rs 2 lakh.

Referring to the GST Bill being stalled in Parliament, Gupta said, "Only one party is opposing the Bill.Day in and day out, we are seeing some political activity happening which is not conducive to the atmosphere."

Besides, he also demanded repeal of existing labour laws, saying such laws have put unnecessary regulatory burden on businesses.

Asking the government to frame a single comprehensive law instead, it demanded simplification of exit rules for Indian and foreign entities.

Seeking a revisit of the new Companies Act 2013, Gupta said it is not synchronous with the growth of businesses as the compliance required is extremely high. It is also not conducive to the growth of large enterprises as well as micro, small and medium firms.