Responding to a call by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, industry associations today saw the government “on the same page” for growth and development. The cheer is all set to be extended with the FM assuring the chambers that the National Investment Board (NIB) will be created in the next two weeks.
At the meeting, the industry lobbies Ficci, CII and Assocham pushed for lowering of interest rates to add to the positive sentiment and consumer spending.
Ficci suggested that consumer spending can be boosted in the festive season if the interest rates are brought down as the country witnesses increased spending on consumer durables and vehicles in this festive season, the chamber president RV Kanoria said.
He said that now the government and industry are on the same page to enhance growth and create employment.
The FICCI president also argued that in the interests of energy security, it was imperative to impart competition in the commercial coal mining sector, for which, denationalization of Coal India (CIL) was essential.
Assocham also called for “scrapping of mine nationalization act.”
The Confederation of Indian Industry pointed out that Rs 4,00,000 crore are stuck in taxation disputes and asked the FM to at least Rs 50,000 crore should be targeted this year.
The chambers also emphasised on fast tracking the Goods and Services Tax Bill. The Fm has in turn asked the industry to help the government bring the opposition on board for pushing reforms.
The industry delegations also urged the finance minister to address the ground level issues in Land acquisition, unlocking the assets with sick Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) companies as well as cash rich PSUs.
“The Free cash flows of public listed PSUs alone are Rs 41,500 crores.
They must be encouraged to either use cash directly to build new capacity or increase dividend payouts so that the government can spend the money on new projects,” CII said
