New Delhi: Cautioning against complacency in the face of sustained industrial growth, the Economic Survey tabled by Finance Minister P Chidambaram asked the Government to "unburden" industry from high level of taxes to help it become globally competitive.
“The reform of tax system still remains an unfinished task. To be competitive globally, the Indian industry needs to be unburdened from the high levels of taxes and distortive exemptions that provide perverse incentives," the Survey said.
Complimenting the Government for opening up the economy, the Survey said the industry has committed a massive investment of Rs 7,39,737 crore in last three years in areas that have been de-licenced.
Making a strong case for toning up the tax system, the Survey said higher revenues have accrued even with unchanged or lower rates.
Pointing to the decline in industrial growth in the first nine months of FY05-06 to 7.8 per cent from 8.6 per cent last year due to the lacklustre performance of the mining and electricity sector, the Survey said inadequate investments in sectors like gas and coal was the main contributor.
In other sectors, the investments were buoyant. "In the sectors in which licensing has been done away with, more than 15,000 industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum were filed during the last three years with proposed investment of Rs 7,39,737 crore and additional employment generation of 2.96 million," it said.
Comments
0 comment