Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her officers on Thursday met representatives of India Inc and trade unions for pre-Budget consultations. While industrialists asked the Centre to take more steps to augment ease of doing business, trade bodies stressed minimum wages, an income-tax ceiling, and pensions.
Industry representatives, who included Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, Confederation of Indian Industry President Vikram Kirloskar, and Assocham President Balkrishna Goenka, asked officials to “create more freedom for industry to perform”.
The corporate leaders highlighted several issues, including income tax roadblocks coming in the way of mergers and acquisitions, or hobbling businesses.
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“I have come here today to discuss only one thing — make doing business easy in the country. That was what my thrust was,” Mittal told media persons after the meeting.
“The idea is to create more freedom for industry to perform. The finance minister, with her associates and secretaries, received them (industry representatives) very well. What we look forward to in this Budget is that it unleashes the energy of Indian entrepreneurs to do more,” Mittal said.
Source: Business Standard
