BREAKFAST WITH BUSINESSLINE. ‘What is trade distorting when I am feeding my poor?’

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said that she strongly objected to some countries alleging that India was a deal breaker at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as it was only trying to take care of its poor while being fully committed to honouring the agreement reached at the Bali Ministerial meet.

Assurance to corporates Addressing a section of Chennai’s corporate and diplomatic elite at the third ‘Breakfast with BusinessLine ’ at the Park Sheraton Hotel & Towers in Chennai, Sitharaman assured businesses that changes in the Companies Act to smoothen processes will be announced during the Winter Session of Parliament.

“We have gone through in great detail to see how best to remove the biggest thorns in the Companies Act that have been upsetting everybody. About 90 per cent of the work has been done,” she said.

To address specific problems faced by industry, more expert groups on the lines of the one formulated on bringing more clarity to India’s intellectual property rules will be set up by the Government, she said.

‘Breakfast with BusinessLine ’ is an informal forum for Chennai’s business and diplomatic community to exchange ideas and share concerns with eminent people from different fields.

Explaining India’s position on its on-going fight with several developed country members at the WTO over the implementation of the trade facilitation agreement, Sitharaman said that the Government never said no to it and was in fact carrying out trade facilitation procedures independently.

The Minister added that India just wanted to be sure that when it subsidised its poor farmers, countries won’t say that it was distorting trade and then drag it to dispute. “What is trade distorting when I am feeding my poor,” she asked.

Retrospective issue On the retrospective tax amendment issue and the Vodafone case, the Minister said that there was not much that the Government could do as the arbitration process was on.

“We have made our case very clear that we will not go on that route (of retrospective taxation) at all. But to remove that with one brush stroke is also not possible. There are legal implications to it,” she said.

Answering queries on changes to the new Companies Act, the Minister said one had to wait as Parliament was in session and some of the notifications had to be announced there.

“Even after that, if industry feels there is a need to make amendments, we are open to that,” she said.

Industrialists had expressed worries over some provisions of the new Companies Act such as rules concerning related party transactions, non-banking financial companies and cap on the number of audits that can be carried out by an auditor. Some clarifications on the Act have already been made by the Government, but the industry is looking for more.

Vibrant IPR regime Highlighting the need for a ‘vibrant’ intellectual property regime, Sitharaman said the new IPR policy being framed by the Government will bring more clarity to the Act and lay down the roadmap for the future.

She said the Government would promote R&D for drug manufacturers in the country and also provide them with funds for innovation. She also stressed the need for faster patent registrations so that India could benefit from technology transfer.

To address various problems that businesses have to face on a daily basis, Sitharaman said the Commerce Ministry will form a small sectoral group advisory board.

“I will invite many of you to help us form small groups in the Ministry. And keep advising us saying where we have to do things a bit rapidly,” she said, adding this had already been done for IPR.

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