Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley held a pre-Budget consultation with heads of industry bodies in New Delhi yesterday. During the meeting, the industry bodies urged the Finance Minister to do away with the minimum alternate tax for manufacturing sector, increase the public spending for infrastructure projects and eliminate all surcharges on corporate tax and service tax for ease of doing business in the country. The Industry chambers also pressed for a stable and simple tax policy and sought a clarity on FDI policy across sectors.<br/><br/>Talking to reporters after the meeting, ASSOCHAM President Sunil Kanoria said, the government must simplify the tax structure that will help in ease of doing business in the country and promote young entrepreneurs to start new businesses. He said, public investment in infrastructure sector needs to be stepped up to increase economic activities.<br/><br/>Confederation of Indian Industry, CII President Sumit Mazumder said, the chamber has asked for a clear roadmap on the 25 percent corporate tax and the CII is totally in support of removal of incentives and allowances.<br/>FIEO President SC Ralhan said, service tax should be exempted for exports and remove the inverted duty structure anomalies which has effected exports and manufacturing sector.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley today held a pre-Budget consultation with the heads of industry bodies in New Delhi. During the meeting, heads of industry bodies urged the Finance Minister to do away with the minimum alternate tax for manufacturing sector, increase the public spending for infrastructure projects and eliminate all surcharges on corporate tax and service tax for ease of doing business in the country.<br/><br/>Industry chambers also pressed for a stable and simple tax policy and sought a clarity on FDI policy across sectors. Talking to reporters after the meeting, ASSOCHAM President Sunil Kanoria said, government must simplify the tax structure that will help in ease of doing business in the country and promote young entrepreneurs to start their new business. He said, public investment in infrastructure sector need to be stepped up to increase the economic activities. <br/><br/>The Confederation of Indian Industry, CII President Sumit Mazumder said the chamber has asked for a clear roadmap on the 25 percent corporate tax and the CII is totally in support of removal of incentives and allowances. <br/><br/>FIEO President S C Ralhan said, the service tax should be exempted for exports and remove the inverted duty structure anomalies which has effected exports and manufacturing sector.