Sector-Specific Sops Soon: Fm

The government will soon come out with a sector-specific plan of action on the lines of the recently announced infotech policy in a bid to boost industry,Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha said yesterday.

During an interactive session with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) delegates here, Sinha said even though the steel, auto, paper and the cement sectors had not performed well during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, there was no cause for gloom.

Sinha said there was a lack of consensus in industry on what the tax and sectoral policies should be.

"If I get a consensus, I will be happy," Sinha said. "Let us try to evolve a consensus along sectoral lines," he added.

 

Reeling out statistics to back his argument that the economy was performing well, Sinha said the industrial production for the first quarter of this fiscal year has gone up by 5.4 per cent compared with 3.7 per cent during the same period previous year.

He said with the monsoon arriving on time, the agricultural sector was expected to perform well this year.

"I expect good foodgrain production this year," the finance minister said.

He said the disbursement of all India financial institutions had gone up by 48 per cent during the first quarter of this year.

On the direct taxes front, there was a growth of over 100 per cent during the first quarter of this year with

regard to corporate tax collection so was the case with income tax collection, Sinha said.

Sinha said he would like to have a "solid import tariff" with regard to corporate goods for the next year's budget. Already, a team had been set up in his ministry for preparation for the next year's budget, Mr Sinha said.

He revealed that refunds on Modvat credit had gone up to around Rs 40,000 crore from Rs 400 crore when it was first introduced during 1986.

Sinha told the clutch of industrialists that there was no cause for concern regarding the state of theIndian economy. "I see no reason for the general atmosphere of gloom which seems to grip all of us," Sinha said.

Lashing out at detractors of the economy, Sinha asked the Indian industry to take a realistic view of the emerging situation. "Should we close our eyes to anything that is positive and turn our minds to everything negative," Sinha said.

He pointed out that the industrial slowdown started since 1996."Industrial slowdown did not start six months ago. we have lived with it since mid-1996," he said.

He reiterated that he would see to it that the fiscal deficit is kept at the projected level of 5.6 per cent. "I am absolutely determined to keep it that way," he said. He also said that he would like to be judged at the end of the year instead of being pre-judged now.

He said the government spending on various sectors would begin from next month when the new season starts.