What the readers want - II

Curb cheap textile imports

The textile sector accounts for nearly 14 per cent of the total industrial output and about 30 per cent of the total exports, whereas the apparel industry in the biggest sector in foreign earnings sharing 12 per cent of the country's export total. In spite of this not much activity appears to be in effect from the Government's side on strengthening the industry's position.

The first thing in demand by the industry would be to lift the indefinite abeyance on the fresh sanction of term loans under TUFS by banks, immediately and need security on it along with pumping of fresh investments in the sector. Secondly, the country's trade deficit is projected to touch a record $135 billion this fiscal year and this widening trend is a macro economic concern for the country. The government should promote exports by re-introduction of beneficial schemes such as Section 80 HHC of the Income Tax Act which exempted income from exports earlier. The Government should protect the flourishing textile and apparel industry by curbing cheaper import from countries such as China and Bangladesh by adopting measures which would further discourage such imports. Similarly, adequate measures are required to be initiated by the Government in boosting the cost competitiveness of Indian products in the US and EU markets over their Asian counterparts by offering suitable incentives and policies.

Manish Mandhana,

Joint MD, Mandhana Industries Ltd.

More focus on infrastructure, education

Amidst concerns over economic variables such as high inflation, rising interest rate coupled with low morale and confidence in the lieu of growing corruption the Budget should be in a position to provide assurance for the growth path of the economy and outline policies with well defined processes and procedures to implement them.Directional points on fiscal consolidation and means to bridge the gap in fiscal deficit as one time income would not be available as it would be skewed towards investment rather than consumption.

Agriculture and related activities would continue to be the focus area as inflation and food security is high on the Government agenda.

Allocate higher amounts towards infrastructure (logistics, rural infrastructure and water management), education and technology to give a multiplier effect to the economy.

With regard to agriculture sector, improvement in the agri logistics and cold storage chains; steps towards reduction in essential commodities hoarding; and irrigation and water management.

Madhumita Ghosh

Head of Research, Unicon

Address land acquisition issue

The Government needs to encourage higher investment in the infrastructure sector. Industry still faces major bottlenecks in doing business, and this affects the economy's growth.

 In the logistics sector, the Railways need to look at reintroducing some schemes such as SFTO, AFTO, and so on,, that had failed earlier with necessary modifications to enable private sector participation. Focus should be on setting up high-speed dedicated freight corridors under a clear timetable - with private participation if needed. Land acquisition has become a very sensitive issue in the past couple of years. It is important that farmers/land-owners are treated fairly and the Government can help by bringing reforms that ensure a fair price is paid and that displaced people also benefit from new projects by the way of jobs and so on. This will also help bring down resistance to land acquisition.

Ajay S. Mittal

Group Chairman & Managing Director

Arshiya International Ltd

Affordable housing is key

In any economy, Real Estate plays the role of one of the most important driving forces. Hence, it is time that Government takes note of the vitally important role that the real estate sector plays in the Indian economy in the Budget.

Some of the stark realities of India's unequal distribution of growth is evident from the common statistics like 15 per cent of the country's urban population living in slums, 35 per cent of all urban households living in single room dwellings, shortage in urban households currently being 25 million houses and so on.

In this Budget, Rajiv Awas Yojana should be clarified and the ambiguities addressed to enable focussed activities under the Yojana. Furthermore, under affordable housing, government should consider incentivising the buyers, among others, through capitalisation of interest subsidy so that contribution deficiency of potential customers could be addressed. This would create a demand which will provide stimulus to the developers to actively pursue this segment of the market in tier-III and tier-IV locations.

I also expect the forthcoming Budget to address the issue of the complex tax structure for the real estate sector. The Government should work towards creating a nationwide, unified taxation system, which currently differs between States.

Getamber Anand

Managing Director, ATS Group

& Vice-President (North), CREDAI

Better treatment for EPF pensioners

Employee provident fund pensioners number a few million and they all get meagre amount as their monthly pensions.

EPF Commissionerate and the Government take refuge by stating that only the interest on their deposits could be paid as pension although there has been continuous enhancement to the provident fund interest rates to the PF depositors regularly.

For the past few years, salaries and pensions for Central and State government employees have reached unprecedented scales without any iota of concern for the aging population. Hope in this Budget the EPF pensioners are treated in par with other pensioners of the government with regard to proportional increase in their monthly remuneration.

A bold initiative may be needed in subsidising certain portion of the pension amount allowing for real inclusive growth and distribution of wealth equitably.

K. Venkataraman

Faculty member, BITS, Pilani Chennai Centre

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