The Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, started her Pre-Budget Consultations with different stakeholder Groups in connection with the forthcoming General Budget 2019-20 here today. Her second Meeting was with the stakeholder Groups from Industry, Trade and Services Sectors.

In her Opening Remarks, the Finance Minister, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Central Government has taken several industry specific initiatives since 2014 that had significantly improved the overall business environment. She said that the emphasis was given to simplification and rationalization of the existing rules and introduction of Information Technology to make governance more efficient and effective. As a result, the Finance Minister said that India has considerably improved its ranking to 77^th position among the 190 countries and has kept 23 ranks over its rank of 100 in the Doing Business Report 2018 as per the World Bank Doing Business (DB) Report, 2019. The Finance Minister, Smt. Sitharaman also mentioned that since 24 % of the total work force in India is in industrial sector, therefore, in order to reap the benefits of demographic dividend, industry should be able to accommodate more work force, the Minister concluded.

Along with the Finance Minister, the meeting was attended by  Shri Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Subhash C. Garg, Finance Secretary, Shri Girish Chandra Murmu, Expenditure Secretary, Shri Ajay Narayan Pandey, Revenue Secretary, Shri Rajeev Kumar, Secretary, DFS, Shri Atanu Chakraborty, Secretary, DIPAM, Shri Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Shri Amit Khare, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Shri Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Shri Anup Wadhawan, Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Shri Pramod Chandra Mody, Chairman, CBDT, Shri P.K Das, Chairman, CBIC, Dr K.V. Subramanian, CEA and other senior officials of the Ministry of Finance.

With a view to give boost to Indian economy, the representatives of  Industry, Services and Trade Sectors submitted several suggestions concerning Industrial sector, land reforms, special economic zones, industrial policy, investment in research and development, simplification of tax regimes, tapping potential in tourism sector, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Good & Services Tax (GST), Capital Gains Tax, Corporate Tax, MSME Sector, e-commerce, skill development, education and healthcare sectors, start-ups, media and entertainment sector and food manufacturing industry.

Representatives of Industry, Services and trade Sectors included Shri Vikram S. Kirloskar, President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Shri Balkrishan Goenka, President, ASSOCHAM, Shri Sandip Somany, President, FICCI, Shri Pramod Agrawal, chairman, Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, Shri Animesh Saxena, president, Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME), Shri Ajit Kumar, Director, Hinduja Group, Smt. Rajni Aggarwal, President, Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs (FIWE), Shri Panaruna Aqeel Ahmed, Chairman, Council for Leather Exports, M/s Florence Shoe Co. Pvt. Ltd., Shri Rahul Bothra, CFO, Swiggy, Bundl Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Shri Ajay Sahai, Director General & CEO, Federation of Indian Export Organisations, Shri Raj Nair, President, IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shri Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman, TVS Capital Fund Pvt. Ltd., Shri P.R. Venketrama Raja, Vice Chairman, MD & CEO, Ramco Systems, Shri Sachin Taparia, Chairman & CEO, local Circles India Pvt. Ltd.

 

Pre-Budget Consultation gathers industry suggestions on tax, FDI, GST, MSME and policy reforms to boost growth. Pre-Budget consultations with industry, trade and services solicited proposals on tax simplification, corporate and capital gains tax, GST administration, FDI facilitation, and measures for MSMEs, start-ups, e commerce, tourism, food manufacturing, land reforms, SEZs, R&D investment, and skill development to boost economic activity and employment ahead of the General Budget.