New Delhi, Dec 16 (FN Agency) In the run up to Union Budget 2022, industry body CII has outlined concerted measures to reduce cost of doing business, continued capital expenditure by Government through enhanced infrastructure spending alongwith tax and policy stability as key requirements which will help in firmly entrenching the nascent signs of recovery being currently seen in private investment. With the risk of the Omicron variant looming large, CII has highlighted the importance of adequate provisioning in the Budget for continued strengthening of surveillance, testing, vaccine research, therapeutics and health care infrastructure which will help to mitigate further risks to growth. In a virtual pre-budget consultation with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and top officials of the Finance Ministry, TV Narendran, President of the Confederation of Indian Industry highlighted the importance of enhancing the competitiveness of industry and imperative of easing the burgeoning cost of doing business.
Narendran sought launching of a mission on measuring and reducing cost of doing business in India, which could encompass comparing India’s cost disadvantages vis-à-vis the top 40 manufacturing GVA economies. To move towards realizing the vision of a truly Atmnirbhar Bharat, Narendran suggested moving to a three-tier structure for import tariffs with a graded roadmap to shift import duty slabs to a competitive level over a period of 3 years. The lowest or nil slab could be for inputs or raw materials, 2.5 to 5% slab for intermediates and final products in the standard slab with exception given to only few products, he said. The CII president called for developing the municipal bond market so that urban local bodies can raise funds for investing in infrastructure and replacing bank guarantees with surety bonds to encourage private sector participation in the infrastructure space. Rapid developments in upcoming manufacturing sectors and technologies such as electric vehicles, semi-conductors and hydrogen merit a special focus in the Budget and creation of exclusive mission mode activities in each of these areas. Narendran suggested encouraging the adoption of hydrogen as an alternative fuel through extending investment allowance for installation of electrolysers could also be explored in the Budget.