Corporate India, led by Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej and Tata Consultancy Services Managing Director and CEO N Chandrasekaran, has given eight out of ten marks to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for presenting a ‘growth-oriented’ budget.
“The budget was overall in the right direction. I think the GDP growth rate in the next fiscal year will be on the higher side of 8.5 per cent. The high investment into infrastructure, a clear date for implementation of the GST, strong encouragement to agriculture and the social infrastructure sector will be very favourable for GDP growth in the future,” said Mr. Godrej.
The proposed reduction of corporate tax to 25 per cent from 30 per cent in the next four years had been welcomed. But industry had lamented the lack of incentives for the manufacturing sector. Because of surcharge, taxes on the manufacturing sector had increased, Mr. Godrej said.
According to Mr. Chandrasekaran, the ‘bold, far sighted budget’ delivered by the Finance Minister would help raise India’s profile as an investment destination. “It aims to make structural changes that will help drive higher corporate investment on a sustainable basis. These include the commitment to simplification and rationalisation of the taxation structure and setting a clear roadmap of reform for the next four years. However, the short-term impact arising out of increase in surcharge and service tax is a matter of concern,” he said.
Siemens Managing Director and CEO Sunil Mathur said the budget was consistent with the government’s stated objectives.
“With the budget, the government seems inclined to follow its bold path of building infrastructure and improve ease of doing business. Its intention to increase public investments while decreasing corporate taxation over a period of time are also steps in the right direction, and we are sure these steps will further improve the confidence of investors and industry alike,” he said. The industry has welcomed the decision to defer GAAR by two years and the introduction of GST in April, 2016.
T. V. Narendran, Managing Director, India & SEA, Tata Steel, said the proposal to do away with different types of foreign investment caps and replace them with a composite cap is welcome.
“Quick implementation of market and policy reforms proposed in the budget will help in achieving a GDP growth of 8.5-9 per cent year-on-year. The move to appoint an expert committee to prepare a draft legislation for obtaining regulatory clearances expeditiously is a step in the right direction,” he said.
