New Delhi, Jan 17 (Representative) PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) on Tuesday suggested the government to enhance private investments. In its union budget proposal, the city-based industry body said in order to enhance the momentum in private investments, there is a need to refuel consumption, capacity utilization, percolation of ease of doing business at the factory level, rationalization of cost of doing business, rationalization of taxation, state of the art infrastructure, enhanced incomes in the agriculture sector, inclusive health infrastructure, quality education and employment creation in the economy.
It has also suggested increasing the tax rebate benefits for consumption expenditure. “Tax rebate on purchase of self-occupied house is given Rs.2 lakh only since the last many years. This needs to be enhanced with the wider scope of consumption expenditure such as purchase of more than 1 house, purchase of car, along with other durables. Consumption expenditure rebate must be enhanced to Rs.5lacs per annum. This will not only enhance the aggregate demand in the economy but also attract private investments, increased capacity utilization of the firms and create enormous employment opportunities in the economy,” it said. PHDCCI has said that the government should focus on reducing the cost of doing business. It has also suggested that infrastructure investment in the economy must be 10% of the GDP in order to achieve state of art infrastructure and to become a developed economy by 2047. Stating that continuous support to MSMEs and Startups is required to help them rejuvenate their growth after the daunting impact of pandemic COVID -19, the industry body has suggested that the value chains of MSMEs should be further enhanced.
It has suggested that exports of agri and food processing products should be increased to the level of US$ 100 billion in next three years from the current level of around US$ 50 billion (2021-22). It has also suggested stepping up investments in the sector for highly skilled human resources from doctors to other medical support staff like nurses, lab technicians, pharmacists, among others that are super trained for unforeseen events such as COVID-19 pandemic.