CII for exempting infrastructure firms from MAT

Friday, 26 January 2007, 18:30 IST
Printer Print Email Email
New Delhi: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)urged the government to exempt infrastructure companies from the purview of minimum alternate tax (MAT) to give a boost to infrastructure spending in the forthcoming union budget. "Though the infrastructure companies are exempted from payment of any tax for a period of 10 years, the imposition of MAT resulted in the fiscal incentives bestowed by the government on the selected sectors being taken away in another form," a CII statement said. "Given the huge financial requirement of investment in infrastructure, the infrastructure development companies should be excluded from the purview of Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) also," it added. The industry body has suggested that, as gas pipelines are critical infrastructure projects, gas transportation and distribution projects must be covered within the definition of the "infrastructure facility" under Section 80IA for the purpose of tax benefits. It also called for the infrastructure industry status for the health care sector to encourage private participation, the statement said.
Source: IANS