WEF India Economic Summit 2019: Cut Income Tax, Provide More Stimulus, Adi Godrej Urges Government
Government should reduce income tax and provide more stimulus, although this may increase the fiscal deficit, says Adi Godrej.
The government should provide more fiscal stimulus to the industry and cut personal income tax rates to boost the slowing growth rate of the Indian economy, Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej said on Thursday.
The government should take these measures, although this may increase the fiscal deficit, he said on the sidelines of World Economic Forum’s India Economic Summit in New Delhi. "The current growth rate of the economy is slow and we need to stimulate it. We need to have the growth rate up and even if it means that the fiscal deficit goes up, I do not think , it matters. It must do," he said.
On being asked if the corporate tax cut would help in the revival of the industry, Godrej said, "It would be good but more needs to be done," he said, adding "personal income tax rate should be also be cut down".
The slowdown in demand is now clearly visible, he added.
When asked to list few measures to revive India’s GDP growth, especially in the FMCG sector, Godrej said, "GDP growth is low, we need to do more and more to stimulate the economy and increase the GDP growth".
On Sept. 20, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a reduction in the base corporate tax rate to 22 percent from 30 percent as part of stimulus measures to boost India’s GDP growth rate that fell to a six-year-low of 5 percent in April-June 2019.
The Goods and Services Tax collections for August dropped sharply to a 19-month low of Rs 91,916 crore, mirroring a worsening India slowdown.