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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday met the leading industrialists in Tamil Nadu as the Centre remains focussed on spurring economic growth amid the continuing fight against the pandemic.
Sitharaman heard suggestions from at least a dozen industry captains, who represented some of the top business establishments from the State.
BusinessLine spoke to the industrialists, and they said the Finance Minister listened to the suggestions. She made note of some points, while she replied to some points.
Suggestions from honchos
“The Finance Minister was very patient in listening to the views and suggestions from various industries. I told her that Budget 2021-22 will spur growth. For that capital is needed as we can’t go to the commercial banks for everything. Manufacturing industry, in particular, needs a development financial institution. It is good that there was an announcement in the budget. It should be speeded up,” N Srinivasan, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, India Cements told BusinessLine .
R Seshasayee, former Managing Director of Ashok Leyland, made suggestions in three areas. He asked the Centre to carve out a trade policy to boost foreign direct investments. He also pointed out that there was a need to look at asset monetisation as a way of developing townships. “I also suggested that the micro finance requirements be stepped up in order to support micro entrepreneurs in the country,” he added.
B Santhanam, Chairman and Managing Director, Saint-Gobain India Ltd, presented his views pertaining to the glass and ceramics industry. He stated that natural gas should be brought under the GST, while highlighting Prime Minister’s speech about bringing natural gas under the GST a few days ago.
‘Dream Budget’
Santhanam also requested the Finance Minister to accelerate and approve anti-dumping duties recommended by the DGCI. “We wanted the government to notify it quickly,” he added.
Lauding the budget as a dream budget, R Dinesh, Joint Managing Director, TV Sundram Iyengar and Sons, discussed opportunities in logistics outsourcing and measures to capitalise on the same.
Suneeta Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd, highlighted that the healthcare sector needed support like the IT sector and schemes like PLI. “I reiterated the need for incentives from the government to create healthcare infrastructure on the lines of the PLI scheme. Otherwise, no one will come forward to invest in healthcare infrastructure. Tax benefits and incentives for investments in healthcare infra will augur well.” Other businessmen who participated in the meeting with the FM included KM Mammen, Chairman and Managing Director, MRF; Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Motor Company; Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Capital; TK Balaji, CMD, Lucas TVS; Srivats Ram, Managing Director, Wheels India; Arun Alagappan, Executive Chairman, Coromandel International; Sanjay Jayavardhanavelu, CMD, Lakshmi Machine Works, RG Chandramogan, Chairman, Hatsun Agro Product; Vijay Shankar, Deputy Chairman, Sanmar Group; Hari Thiagarajaran, Executive Director, Thiagarajar Mills.
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