Achal Bakeri, CMD, Symphony Ltd
With all eyes on GST launch, 2017 will turn out to be a historic year for indirect taxes. Recently Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that July 1, 2017 would be a “more realistic date” to roll out GST.
The government needs to bring in simplification of tax laws. Moreover, the need of the hour is to widen the scope of taxation. We see big corporate houses as prime targets for paying taxes but at the same time we forget that a large number of taxpayers are either evading tax net or not paying appropriate taxes. Contributing to economy is everyone’s responsibility and I think each and every citizen need to be responsible towards paying their taxes.
This year many corporate houses and public in general are very eager to see change in income-tax slabs. If the Union Budget come up with any such announcement, it will be cheered by the salaried and self-employed class.
In addition to this, we expect the Government to lower the corporate income-tax to 28 per cent in the upcoming Budget and reduce it further to 25 per cent in the coming years as promised by the Finance Minister.
Ease of doing business should be the top priority for the Government.
Abhishek Singh, Director, Manpasand Beverages Ltd
Demonetisation, has brought in a few opportunities particularly in terms of assimilating the informal sector into formal folds, and that needs to be tapped in.
I hope that this year Budget will have special sops for the MSME sector as they are not only one of the largest job providers, but also form the backbone of the food processing sector in India. Appropriate tax incentives have to be provided to uplift the dampened spirits of the sector and ensure sustainable growth in the medium term. We also need an atmosphere where consumption is boosted as it will lead to better profitability and efficiency for the food processing industries.
Rajiv Gandhi, CEO & MD, Hester Biosciences Ltd
Focusing on the primary sector should be the aim of the government and within the primary sector, it should be agriculture. It would automatically bridge the gap between rural and urban India, between the poor and the rich in society. Within agriculture, the animal husbandry sector too could play a role.
Taking the ‘Make In India’ to next level, the government should now focus on ‘Make in Rural India’ campaign considering our agriculture-based economy.
Legitimising every commercial transaction, strengthening tax collection measures and easing out income-tax, coupled with e-banking could supplement the growth drivers.
Deepak Chiripal, CEO, Nandan Denim Ltd
Special package for textile industry should be considered in the Budget.
Textile industry is one of the largest employers in India and contributes about 14 per cent to industrial production, 4 per cent to GDP and gives direct employment to around 45 million work force. The industry has gone through lot of difficulties post demonetisation and needs special attention in the Budget.
Corporate income-tax needs to be lowered to 28 per cent in the upcoming Budget and lowering it further to 25 per cent in the coming years as promised by FM. Insertion of Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) with US has further increased the challenges for Indian textiles in the long term.
We want the finance minister to introduce measures which can boost our exports as India has the potential to become one of the biggest exporters in the world. Cotton-based textile goods accounted for almost 90 per cent of India's total textile exports of about $40 billion in 2015-16 and if supported well can take the industry to new heights.
Kamlesh Patel, Chairman and Managing Director, Asian Granito India Ltd
The ceramic industry is facing double whammy of a slowdown in domestic demand and cheap imports from China. We expect finance minister to announce remedial measures which can foster growth in the infrastructure and real estate sectors.
Affordable housing and infrastructure sectors should be levied at a lower slab in GST at 12 per cent to achieve the government target of construction of 60 million homes under government initiative of Housing for All.
To boost exports, we want the finance minister to introduce incentives for exports or exempt profit from exports as provisions earlier. Further to safeguard domestic ceramic industry we demand to reinstate anti dumping duty.