Comments
The focus on infrastructure development, ease of doing business and rationalising excise duty, and the commitment towards rolling out the Goods and Services Tax are good news for the manufacturing sector, according to Pawan Goenka, President, Automotive and Farm Equipment Sectors, Mahindra & Mahindra.
Plans to speed up project clearances will make investments attractive, he told media persons in a teleconference. The reduction in royalty tax will help bring in technology. The government has largely kept excise rates stable and the minor changes are unlikely to have any significant impact.
The plan to introduce GST by 2016 is a welcome step provided there is no dilution in the concept, and it is clean and all-encompassing, he said. State Government lobbies should not be allowed to compromise implementation.
Even if GST is the equivalent of the current excise and VAT, the 3-4 per cent reduction in tax incidence will benefit customers. More importantly, companies can concentrate on business efficiency in setting up factories, warehouses and components sourcing rather than on tax efficiency, Goenka said.
Vinod K Dasari, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland, while welcoming the budget’s direction said plans for expanding the road network by 100,000 km is good news for the commercial vehicle sector. Excise duty is largely untouched and the plan to introduce GST is good news for the industry.
BC Datta, Vice-President (Taxation), Hyundai Motor India, said the budget has lifted the overall sentiment in industry with a positive focus on infrastructure investments, a commitment to roll out GST and simplification of taxes such as cess and surcharge.
Sumit Sawhney, Country CEO and Managing Director, Renault Operations in India, called it a well-balanced budget with positive measures to boost growth. The announcement of a firm date for GST was another positive step, he said. “Although the budget did not have much for the automobile sector, we are hopeful of some pro-business policies in the near future,” he said.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.