Chidambaram assures tax reforms to woo investment

Monday, 27 December 2004, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram assured Indian industry of tax reforms to attract more investment, particularly from domestic investors, to fuel sustainable economic growth of over seven percent for the next 10-15 years. "The textile, petroleum, sugar and telecom sectors have a complex and convoluted tax structure. I acknowledge it is an unfinished exercise and I have to unravel them," Chidambaram said. He was addressing the 77th annual general meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here. "I assure you that we will address the complex tax structure and come out with a simpler and investor-friendly tax structure," he said. While foreign investment is desirable, the finance minister stressed that bulk of the investment required to create public goods and fuel sustained seven percent plus annual economic growth has to come from the Indian investors. Chidambaram said the infrastructure investment commission set up by the prime minister has been meeting often to come out with investor friendly proposals to attract more investment in the power, road, ports and tourism sectors to propel growth and generate employment. So far, only the airport projects have been able to attract some investments. To attract investment in other sectors the investment commission would be willing to meet industry lobbies and seek their inputs, he said. He called upon FICCI to organise meetings and "come out with short papers on specific suggestions." For India to emulate the success of China in charting over seven percent sustained economic growth, Chidambaram said, "India's growth depends vitally on investment. Only investment led growth can be sustained over a long period." After almost three years India is once again witnessing a rise in investor sentiments, leading to commitments or proposals for investment in diverse sectors like chemicals, metals and services, the finance minister said.
Source: IANS