New Delhi, Feb. 3: India Inc today urged Pranab Mukherjee to keep tax rates at existing levels in a pre-budget meeting of the captains of industry with the finance minister.
Industry leaders also demanded that healthcare services should be kept outside the ambit of service tax, while minimum alternate tax (MAT) be rationalised.
They further sought infrastructure status for aviation, telecom, healthcare and education, quick implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) and continuation of the interest rate subsidy scheme for exporters till March 31, 2013.
Mukherjee said to achieve inclusive growth, the economy had to grow at more than 9 per cent for a sustainable period. According to Mukherjee, to ensure that everybody gets their due share of development, it is necessary that the benefits of the various development programmes reach the targeted beneficiaries in the given timeframe.
"There are various challenges before us, including higher growth, keeping inflation and fiscal and revenue deficits to manageable level, which we all have to address collectively," he said.
The meeting was attended by ITC chairman Y.C. Deveshwar, Hindustan Unilever managing director and CEO Nitin Paranjpe and the representatives of industry associations.
"We asked for infrastructure status for healthcare and education. We also sought faster PSU divestment, widening of the tax net and implementation of GST as fast as possible," CII president B Muthuraman told reporters after the meeting.
Ficci president R.V. Kanoria said the 30 per cent tax slab should apply to individuals with an annual income of more than Rs 10 lakh against Rs 8 lakh now.
"We have made a case for retaining the tax rates at the present level. There should be no increase in corporate tax, service tax and excise," Kanoria said.
Assocham president-elect Rajkumar Dhoot said the industry had urged the government to advise the Reserve Bank to reduce interest rates by one percentage point.
M. Rafeeq Ahmed, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, said, "Interest rate for the MSME sector should be capped at 7 per cent and for others at 9 per cent and subvention should be provided to all sectors of exports at least till March 2013."
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