Govt to push reforms to woo investment, plug infra deficit: FM

Prioritising the need to open up economy further, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the Centre will step up on reforms to attract more investment and fill up infrastructure deficit, even as he asserted there is a "great amount of impatience" on the growth front.
Speaking at the India-UK Tech Summit here, he said unlike developing economies, voices seeking protectionism are almost absent as the economy expands.
"I think one of the great strengths of the Indian economy is that even though we are growing at the fastest rate than any major economy, but by our own standard we are still not satisfied. There is a great amount of impatience in India and a far greater amount of realisation that we can grow even faster," he said.

Seven decades after independence, India's voice is increasingly getting noticed in the world, he said.
"Therefore to reform more, to open more, to attract more investment, to expand more in manufacturing, (we need) to fill up the infrastructure deficit faster than what we have been doing," he said.
As the USD 2.2 trillion Indian economy expands, it is "least influenced" by voices of protectionism, he said. "Normally it is the least developed and developing economies which have a tendency to cry for protectionism and that is a voice that's almost not heard in India," the FM said.

"We are looking to open out and that's the being the direction of our economy," he added.

Jaitley said many opportunities have been wasted in past and an aspirational nation doesn't want to let go off any now.
"If we look at the areas where we have growth potential I think one obvious area is manufacturing. The share of manufacturing has to increase from the present 15 per cent to 25 per cent level and that's where we will realise we are creating far more jobs and expanding far better," he said.
Also, there is a huge potential to grow in the eastern India and rural areas have a deficit and offer a tremendous potential to invest, he said.

Jaitley further said India suffers as "a hugely tax
non-compliant society".
"In the year 2015-16, 3.7 crore assesses of the total population of over 125 crore, filed income tax returns.
"Out of these, 99 lakh declared income below Rs 2.5 lakh and paid no taxes; 1.95 crore declared income less than Rs 5 lakh; 52 lakh declared income between Rs 5 to 10 lakh, and only 24 lakh declared income above Rs 10 lakh.
"No better evidence is required to substantiate that both in the matter of direct and indirect taxes, India continues to suffer being a hugely tax non-compliant society," he said.

Jaitley said the expenditure required for poverty eradication, national security and economic development have to be compromised with on account of tax non-compliances.
He further said, "Tax evasion has been considered as neither unethical nor immoral. It was just a way of life. Several Governments have allowed this 'normal' to continue even though this compromised with larger public interest.
"The Prime Minister's decision (of demonetisation) is intended to create a new 'normal'," he said.
The Finance Minister further said the move seeks to change the expenditure pattern of India and Indians.
"It is obviously disruptive. All reforms are disruptive. They change the retrograde status quo. The demonetisation puts a premium on honesty and penalises dishonest conduct.

"Excessive cash as a medium of exchange is favoured by the underground economy, resulting in non-compliance in tax payments. Mountains of cash money reach tax havens through the hawala route from the original paper currency," he added.
Jaitley further said that cash is the medium which funds bribery, corruption, counterfeit currency and terrorism.
Stating that ethical and developed societies aided by technology have consistently moved towards banking and digital transactions as against the excessive use of cash, he said that reducing cash may not eliminate crime and terrorism but it can inflict serious blow on them.