Narendran wants revitalise demand through a time bound tax concession
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President T V Narendran has called for a strong fiscal stimulus and Government expenditure program to support a 9.5% GDP growth in 2021-22.
“CII estimates that there is fiscal headroom of up to Rs.3 lakh crore and this amount can be channelised towards direct cash transfers to the vulnerable people, higher allocation for MNREGA, short-term GST rate cuts and lower excise duty on fuel,” he told a Press Conference on 17 July 2021.
Demand can also be revitalized through a time bound tax concession of interest rate subvention for home buyers, a Leave Travel Concession (LTC) cash voucher scheme as done last year and extending the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojana till 31 March 2022, said Narendran, who is CEO and Managing Director of Tata Steel Ltd and took over CII Presidency on 31 May 2021.
CII further urged for expansion in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) balance sheet to meet the demand exigencies of the pandemic.
Listing out economic boosters, Narendran called for support to the industry through increase in Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to Rs.5 lakh crore along with extension of the scheme to 31 March 2022 and inclusion of more distressed sectors such as retail.
He further suggested long pending structural tax reforms such as inclusion of ATF and other fuel products under GST to be considered.
The CII President emphasized, “As businesses reopen, their credit needs must be met and the financial sector should be able to absorb pandemic-induced non-performing assets.” A corpus may be set up as a pandemic pool to cover the risk of losses from future pandemics.
He suggested a range of measures for accelerating vaccination. As per CII estimates, an average of about 71 lakh daily vaccinations are required over June to December 2021 to administer at least a single dose to all adults. For this, the vaccine availability must be doubled.
He said the Government should fast track all necessary licensing requirements and pay in advance for purchases, besides providing capital subsidies to incentivise production of vaccines. It should urge the IP owners of vaccines to issue licenses for mass manufacturing with transfer of technology.
Narendran advocated for the appointment of an empowered Minister of Vaccination to accelerate the vaccination program including in rural areas, procurement and distribution of vaccines to states based on scientific criteria and monitoring progress through a daily dashboard.
CII’s Project Vaccine Nation aims to assist in this by reaching out to its 300,000 direct and indirect members and linking vaccination demand with manufacturers and healthcare providers.
Noting that a third wave is a possibility, the CII chief urged that district administrations and the private sector partner to set up Covid Care Centres in rural areas. Free land, deemed clearances and tax benefits could be extended for this. The Government should also keep handy reserves of essential drugs, vaccines and oxygen to meet infection spikes.
He also called for a comprehensive social health insurance for all should be instituted by 2025 with funding from various central and state sources and private beneficiaries.
“With majority of the population vaccinated by the end of this year, implementation of big-ticket reforms in factor markets and the financial sector, and a large fiscal stimulus, we will be able to reach the critical US$5 trillion mark by 2025-26. This is the best-case scenario that CII has estimated,” stated Narendran.
Outlining the CII agenda for the year under the theme of ‘Building India for a New World: Competitiveness, Growth, Sustainability, Technology’, Narendran said that CII has set up several task forces to go into the issues of third wave of pandemic preparation, risk surveillance and early warning systems and strengthening scientific data.
He informed that CII aims to set up E-ICUs in rural areas across 12 states, for which pilot projects in Maharashtra and Haryana have been successful. The CII E-ICUs will have testing and diagnostic facilities and oxygen generation capacities.
CII will also undertake capacity building of ASHA workers and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs).
CII, he said, has drafted a Code for Industry Staff Welfare to provide relief to families of employees who succumbed to Covid-19. The code suggests support by companies on 5 key areas including welfare support, income support, higher education support, Term Insurance support and support to contractual staff. #investment #taxes #banking #credit #economy #health /fiinews.com
