Pune, Aug 8 (FN Agency) The Maharashtra Congress on Wednesday slammed the Narendra Modi government at the Centre for serving a tax evasion notice to IT giant Infosys. In a press release issued here, Congress spokesperson Gopal Tiwari said that the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence, at the behest of the Modi government, has served a tax evasion notice of Rs 32,400 crore to Infosys. ‘’The notice was served on Infosys because its co-founder, Narayan Murthy, had expressed doubts about India’s ability to compete with China’s manufacturing prowess. He had raised doubts while speaking at ELCIA Tech Summit 2024, saying that China has six times the gross domestic product (GDP) of India and it was audacious to believe that India will be a manufacturing hub.’’ He said that what Murthy spoke was a matter-of-fact.
‘’On one hand, our Prime Minister keeps patting his government about ensuring faster development, on other hand bitter truth is that we are nowhere near China’s GDP or manufacturing prowess. When experts point out such things, the government gets fully exposed,’’ he claimed. Tiwari said that Infosys is the pride of India and treating it in such a manner will only harm the country’s image. ‘’By issuing the notice, the Modi government has sought to defame the IT giant like Infosys, which is India’s pride and glory. We need to protect Infosys, which provides jobs to thousands of Indians. It will not serve any purpose if we are going to tarnish the image of an esteemed organisation like the Infosys,” he pointed. Instead of serving the notice to Infosys, the Modi government should take cue out of what Murthy said and work hard on it, the Congress leader suggested.
‘’Murthy has shown mirror to the government, which needs to double its efforts if the nation has to put China in the shadows. If the PM goes and makes speeches about India’s progress abroad without addressing the key issues, he will only be making a laughing stock of himself..By issuing a notice to Infosys through its vendetta action, the BJP government has lowered the nation’s image in the world’s eyes,’’ he noted. “The notice reflects the vendetta tactics of the government. The BJP government does not like its claims being exposed. It wants people who will sing peans for it all the time. Anyone who criticises or points out the government’s fault either has to go to jail or face tax evasion notices,” he added.