Chidambaram announces Rs. 111-cr. duty reliefs

The Finance Minister, Mr. P. Chidambaram, has announced reliefs in excise and customs on a few products involving a net revenue loss of Rs. 111 crores to the exchequer, and allayed apprehensions over the services tax on which the 1997-98 Budget took credit for Rs. 900 crores which subsequently led to a strike by truck operators. Moving the Finance Bill 1997 for consideration in the Lok Sabha, the Finance Minister said that “it is not my intention to levy the tax immediately upon the Finance Bill becoming law. In each case, an opportunity will be given to the industry concerned to make their representations about the manner in which the tax would be collected and exemptions, if any, which deserve to be granted.”

Invest now, industry told

The Finance Minister has made a fervent plea to industry to invest as “this is the time to raise funds in the capital market, borrow from banks and financial institutions”. Assuring industry that he would keep investment trends under “constant review and will be prepared to take further steps if they are needed to boost investment,” the minister said the current slowdown had sharpened the urgency to have the kind of “pro-growth, pro-investment” Budget he had unveiled on February 28.

BJP assails ‘dream Budget’

The BJP today assailed the UF Government’s 1997-98 Budget as being “import-friendly” and inflationary. The Government has failed to give a national orientation to the Budget which has opened up the flood-gates to importers and foreign investors to earn profits, said Dr. Murali Manohar Joshi, initiating the discussion on the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha.

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