Consolidate gains from the various structural reforms
The past few years have been a mixed bag and the country is now looking toward the new year with renewed optimism. As a part of Corporate India, Henkel India hopes that some of the expectations we have will be addressed by the Union Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley. Overall, we expect Budget 2018 to consolidate gains from the various structural reforms (such as GST, demonetization etc.) implemented outside the Budget which have helped it formalize the economy.
Tax policy is a key element of our nation's economic reform agenda, and can be effectively leveraged to spur consumption, growth and investor sentiment. Also, India has been dealing with numerous indirect taxes for many years now and GST was considered as the most needed tax reform. However, there is a need to converge the existing band of GST rates to three in line with international standards. Further, to make the GST reform truly effective, all sectors including electricity, oil & gas, real estate, tobacco and alcohol should be within the ambit of GST.
Shilip Kumar, President, Henkel - India
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Allocation for uninterrupted power, improved infrastructure and flexible labour laws
Policy makers should realise that the Indian toy industry has a huge potential to generate large employment opportunities for unskilled and semiskilled labour. The budget should provide adequate allocation for uninterrupted power, improved infrastructure and flexible labour laws to aid the same. Considering that the majority of the toy industry in India is in MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise) sector, necessary protection from Chinese markets and large scale global toy companies should also be given, to level the competition in the Indian toy market.
John Baby, CEO, Funskool India Ltd
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Emphasis on improving the infrastructure
The Government has brought in some great potentials for the economic up-liftment of the country by setting up a dedicated Logistics Division under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and granting infrastructure status. Last year we saw about INR 39.61 lakh crore was announced to be invested in infrastructure development. Hence, we will look forward for more emphasis on improving the infrastructure this year as well as it will be a boon not only for express delivery players but for many industries for carving out a niche for itself globally. Secondly, we would expect efforts from the government on cutting regulatory barriers and offering a seamless, transparent digital platform ensuring easy movement of goods and vehicles across the country. Lastly, it will be interesting to look forward for more schemes focused on fiscal incentives encouraging investments in SEZ's allowing the private sector to contribute, consolidate and expand.
Chander Agarwal, Managing Director, TCIEXPRESS
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