CII discussing use of water resource management tool in Maharashtra

Industry chamber CII said on Monday that it in talks with the Maharashtra government for applying an advanced tool for water resources evaluation and management in 10 districts of the state currently in throes of severe water shortage.

At a press conference here, newly-elected Confederation of Indian Industry president Naushad Forbes said that CII will launch WATSCAN, which has been developed to identify water generation, accumulation and losses in geographical areas.

"CII will apply WATSCAN in 50 districts in 10 drought-prone states over the next five years," he said.

Forbes also said that with expectations of a normal monsoon, India's GDP growth rate in the current fiscal could touch 8 percent, which would be higher than the government's projection.

"This is based on expected higher agricultural growth on a low base after two successive years of drought," he said.

Calling for a strong political consensus on the Goods and Services Tax (GST), currently stalled in the Rajya Sabha, the CII president urged that legislative reforms for introducing GST and the Bankruptcy law must be passed quickly.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill, 2015, that proposes to enact a single bankruptcy code and set deadlines for processing insolvency cases, was passed by the Lok Sabha last week, and will now go to the Rajya Sabha for its consent.

Delineating emerging growth drivers, Forbes said strong macroeconomic fundamentals, favorable business sentiments, and downward trend in interest rates are significant positives for the economy.

Noting risk factors, he said the external demand situation would have to be closely watched. A flat corporate performance, fiscal pressure from the Seventh Pay Commission and potential increase in oil prices in the coming year would be additional risk factors, he added.

--IANS

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