New Delhi, July 1 (PTI): RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani is scheduled to meet Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday.
"Reliance Industries (RIL) chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani will meet Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia in the morning on Monday," an official said.
The meeting comes at a time RIL is facing hurdles in getting clearances for its oil and gas exploration projects. It is also facing resistance for approval of its gas price.
RIL is also seen as a bidder in the forthcoming telecom spectrum auction.
Several industrialists have visited Yojana Bhawan, Ahluwalia's office, after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took charge of the finance ministry.
Earlier this week, Vodafone India chairman Analjit Singh and UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya had called on Ahluwalia.
Officials in the Planning Commission said many more top industrialists were expected to visit Yojana Bhawan in the coming days.
"Ahluwalia is considered close to the Prime Minister and being an important functionary in the government. It is obvious that industrialists will meet him," a Planning Commission official said.
However, some others in Yojana Bhawan said top corporate chiefs visiting Ahluwalia was a routine affair.
GAAR issue
The finance ministry under Manmohan Singh will very quickly "resolve" uncertainty among investors caused by the general anti-tax avoidance rules, Ahluwalia said today.
"As soon as the budget was presented, it was clear that the General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) are going to create a problem," Ahluwalia said in an interview to a TV channel.
However, he said, the finance ministry, now under the Prime Minister, "will resolve the uncertainty among investors".
When asked if former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was a problem, he said, "No, I think this is something we don't want to be carried away.
"The art of taxation is difficult... you have to give credit to the previous finance minister, after all he postponed the application of GAAR."
He said GAAR was a larger issue and it "caused lots of uncertainties among investors... The government actually recognised that by postponing the implementation of GAAR".
On the finance ministry's draft guidelines on GAAR provisions, he said they had taken care of some of the problems.
"I think the government should look carefully at informed opinion and informed comments on whether these rules take care of all the problems that are creating difficulty and then address them," he said.
On retrospective tax amendments, Ahluwalia said he did not think it was introduced because of the Vodafone tax issue.
